Department for Education

Overseas Students: Employment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with relevant stakeholders to help support postgraduate international students find employment in the UK on completion of their studies.

Robert Halfon: The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that international students make to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector. The government has set out its commitment to supporting international student employability in Action 6 of the International Education Strategy, which was launched in 2021 and states that the “UK Council for International Student Affairs will collaborate with the Confederation of British Industry, Universities UK International, and key education and employer groups to support international student employability. This group will build understanding of the UK’s skills needs, international labour markets, and barriers to international graduate employability and share examples of best practice across the sector”. The strategy is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601d7475e90e0711caf57c70/International-Education-Strategy-_2021-Update.pdf. The department engages regularly with stakeholder groups, such as the UK Council for International Student Affairs and Universities UK, on matters surrounding international student employability to ensure a joined-up approach between government and the HE sector.

Children in Care: Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of looked-after children who were raised in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency who have been placed (a) outside and (b) 20 miles or more from the local authority area.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of care-experienced 16 and 17-year-olds who have been placed in unregistered accommodation in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency.

David Johnston: ​​I refer the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood to the answer of 19 January 2024 to Questions 9906 and 9907.

Childcare: Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the average cost of childcare for a (a) two and (b) three and four-year-old child for 25 hours a week in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of childcare places in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of childcare providers who have closed in the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency in each of the last five years.

David Johnston: In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, the Chancellor announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency is within the area covered by Blackpool Council.Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.If Blackpool Council report any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues, and where needed, supports them with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.The department does not hold data for the number of childcare providers that have either opened or closed in the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency, specifically, or by individual years.

Special Educational Needs: Free School Meals

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the guidance entitled Free school meals: guidance for schools and local authorities, published on 31 January 2023, if she will publish revised guidance with information on the provision of free school meals for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Damian Hinds: There are many pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) status that meet the eligibility criteria necessary for free school meals (FSM). The latest published statistics show that 41.1% of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan and 37.5% of pupils on SEND support were eligible for FSM provision in 2023. Similarly, many children with disabilities but not Special Educational Needs will be eligible, and those rates are higher than the overall proportion of pupils eligible for FSM in England.The standard food offering provided by schools will be suitable to the needs of many of these children. However, some pupils with additional needs may require special food provision or arrangements. All schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people, and they must make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage. That means that a school cannot treat a pupil unfairly because of their disability.The department will update its published guidance on FSM to make reference to the reasonable adjustments duty in order to heighten awareness about reasonable adjustments, such as meal provision, amongst schools, local authorities and families. This guidance will be made available in spring 2024.

Special Educational Needs: Nutrition

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of education, health and care plans include nutritional information; and what (a) funding and (b) other support she has made available to local authorities to support SEND children with nutritional needs.

David Johnston: The department does not collect data on how many Education, Health and Care plans include nutritional information. High needs funding to support the education of children with complex Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) will total to £10.5 billion in 2024/25 which is an increase of over 60% from 2019/20. The majority of this funding is allocated to local authorities: they, and the schools they fund, can use this funding to subsidise or meet the cost of school food, including for those children with SEND who have nutritional needs.

Schools: Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that children in school are not exposed to high levels of air pollution.

Damian Hinds: The department has published the Building Bulletin 101, which provides non-statutory guidance on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings. Local outdoor air quality is the responsibility of local authorities who should prepare air quality action plans to ensure the level of pollutants is reduced. In January 2019, the government published the Clean Air Strategy setting out plans to deal with all sources of pollution. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-air-strategy-2019. Guidance on good estate management for ventilation in schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools/health-and-safety.

Universities: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to (a) monitor and (b) assess the financial health of universities.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the most significant challenge to the financial health of universities.

Robert Halfon: The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, collects and analyses financial data from HE providers, as well as other intelligence, to ensure they have an up to date understanding of the sustainability of the sector.  In their most recent report on the financial health of the HE sector, which was published in May 2023, the OfS stated that the overall aggregate financial position of the sector is sound.The full report is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/0b7d9daa-d6c7-477e-a0b2-b90985d0f935/financial-sustainability-report-2023-updated-june-2023.pdf.The department continues to work closely with the OfS, HE representative bodies and other government departments, as appropriate, to understand the ongoing financial sustainability in the sector.

Overseas Students: Developing Countries

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the news stories entitled Changes to student visa route will reduce net migration, published on 23 May 2023, and Home Secretary unveils plan to cut net migration, published on 4 December 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to international student visas on the (a) number and (b) experience of people from developing countries coming to the UK to study.

Robert Halfon: The government believes in a fair and robust migration policy, while maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030. The changes announced on 4 December 2023 strike the right balance between acting decisively on migration while protecting the UK’s position as a world-leader in higher education (HE). The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top ten, and 17 in the top 100. The UK has a highly sought after HE experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running. The department continues to work closely with the Home Office, Department for Business and Trade, and other government departments to assess the impact of these changes on HE providers.

GCSE: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children have achieved five Grade C or higher GCSEs in Feltham and Heston constituency in each year since 2009.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in Feltham and Heston constituency have not reached a Progress 8 score of -0.5 in each year since 2016.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds data on Progress 8 scores by constituency.

Damian Hinds: The department did not produce the percentage of pupils achieving five or more grades A* to C, including English and Mathematics GCSEs, at parliamentary constituency level prior to the 2014/15 academic year or from 2016/17 onwards. It is available for the 2014/15 and 2015/6 academic years. The department publishes the percentage of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate at grades A* to C, or 9 to 4, at parliamentary constituency level. The English Baccalaureate consists of GCSEs in five subjects: English, mathematics, science, a modern foreign language, and geography or history. The information available is attached for Feltham and Heston constituency. The department publishes Progress 8 scores at school level. School level attainment data for each academic year can be accessed here: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data. School level attainment data was not published for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years 2019/20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-accountability-approach-2020-to-2022/. Progress 8 data for schools in Feltham and Heston is attached. The department publishes data on Progress 8 scores by parliamentary constituency in the following publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-4-performance-revised/2022-23. The most recent Progress 8 scores by parliamentary constituency for the 2022/23 academic year data can be found in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4047060f-e4df-41db-aad7-08dc15deba2a.10138 10139 10140 Table  (xlsx, 34.0KB)

Apprenticeships

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people started an apprenticeship course that they did not complete in each academic year since 2010-2011.

Robert Halfon: The department does not hold the information requested.

Pre-school Education: Allergies

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available for children with allergies in pre-school nurseries in the West Midlands.

David Johnston: The early years foundation stage framework (EYFS) sets the standards that all registered early years providers in England must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to age five and includes provisions to support children with allergies. The framework is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.The EYFS requires that before a child is admitted to the setting the provider must obtain information about any special dietary requirements, preferences and food allergies that the child has, and any special health requirements.In addition to this, the EYFS states that at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present. PFA training must include how to help a baby or child suffering from anaphylactic shock.The EYFS also signposts to the Department of Health and Social Care document: ‘Example menus for early years settings in England’ which includes guidance on menu planning, food safety, managing food allergies and reading food labels, which staff preparing food will find helpful in ensuring that children are kept safe. The document is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/658870/Early_years_menus_part_1_guidance.pdf. In September 2023, the department changed the adequate supervision requirement within the EYFS to be explicit that “adequate supervision” while children are eating means that children must always be in sight and hearing of an adult, not within sight or hearing. This will help practitioners to be able to notice the signs of an allergic reaction as soon as they present and allow them to act quickly. The new early years educator Level 3 qualification criteria will come into force in September 2024. The criteria is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-educator-level-3-qualifications-criteria/early-years-educator-level-3-qualifications-criteria-from-1-september-2024. Changes have been made to ensure that early years practitioners have an understanding of allergies and anaphylaxis.

Nuclear Physics: Higher Education

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 7744 on Engineering and Nuclear Physics: Higher Education, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of the (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate students who were enrolled in Nuclear and Particle Physics in the 2021-22 academic year that were international students.

Robert Halfon: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of JISC, collects and publishes data on student enrolments across all UK higher education providers. This includes data on full person equivalents (FPE) enrolled in different subject areas, categorised using the higher education coding of subjects (HECoS) system. Counts of enrolments in each HECoS group are published in Table 52 of HESA’s Student Data, available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52. Enrolments in ‘Nuclear and Particle Physics’ are recorded under HECoS code 101077, and can be filtered to give counts by level of study and domicile. For more information on HECoS see: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos.

Childcare: Kingswood

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average cost to parents of childcare for a (a) a two year old and (b) a three and four year old child for 25 hours per week in Kingswood constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of childcare places in Kingswood constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of childcare providers who have closed in Kingswood constituency in each of the last five years.

David Johnston: In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.The department does not hold data for the number of childcare providers that have either opened or closed in the Kingswood constituency, specifically, or by individual years.The department continually monitors the sufficiency of childcare in South Gloucestershire. The department has regular contact with them, and all other local authorities in England, about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children.Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.If South Gloucestershire report any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues, and where needed, supports them with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.

Department for Business and Trade

Overseas Trade

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to help encourage more trade between the UK and its neighbours.

Greg Hands: This Government continues to support UK firms to export and invest. We have published our Export Strategy which sets out the support we provide to companies and investors through our network of international trade advisers, sector specialists, and the export support service.Ministers and officials meet European partners to promote trade and investment opportunities, remove barriers to trade and support UK businesses. In addition to our trade agreements with the European Union and the EEA/EFTA, we are negotiating an enhanced FTA with Switzerland and will continue to pursue opportunities to strengthen economic ties with our neighbours.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State of Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the contribution of domestic medicinal cannabis production to the economy.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) actively assists life sciences companies in their endeavours to invest, expand, and export, thereby generating employment and economic growth.UK-based life sciences businesses receive support from DBT through trade missions to key markets, participation in major trade events, tackling market access barriers, upskilling exporters, and guidance on entering new markets. Although routine assessments of the economic impact of specific life sciences’ subsectors like medicinal cannabis are not conducted, DBT is committed to supporting companies of various sizes throughout their export and inward investment endeavours while adhering to national regulatory guidelines.

Department for International Trade: Aviation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to page 85 of the Department for International Trade's annual report and accounts for 2021-22, HC501, published on 18 July 2022, what the distance travelled on domestic flights was that resulted in the emission total of 26.81 tCO2e in 2021-22.

Greg Hands: The distance travelled on domestic flights that resulted in the emission total of 26.81 tCO2e in 2021-22 was 206,214km.

Horizon IT System

Sir Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of failures by the Horizon software on sub-postmasters who (a) found unexplained accounting losses that were not investigated by Post Office Limited (b) made up those losses from their own funds.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is committed to providing full compensation to all those affected by the Horizon scandal.Postmasters who paid shortfalls which were recorded in Horizon to the Post Office are paid those amounts back in their compensation claims, as well as any other financial and personal damage which they have suffered as a consequence of the IT system.The full 2,417 postmasters who claimed through the original Horizon Shortfall Scheme have now all had offers of compensation. Offers have totalled over £107m and over £93 million has been paid out in this scheme, with Post Office now dealing with late applications and with those cases where the initial offer was not accepted.

Horizon IT System: Compensation

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the timeline is for ensuring all victims of the Horizon scandal receive the compensation they are due; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure all wrongfully convicted victims are compensated.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government wants to see postmasters compensated as quickly as possible. Over £148 million has been paid to 2,700 victims, and we encourage anyone impacted to use the three compensation schemes available.Last September, we announced an optional fixed sum award of £600,000 to those with overturned convictions as a means to swift settlement. In order to speed the flow of compensation for those in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme, the Government also announced on 10th January that we will offer a fixed sum award of £75,000 which will save them from having to go through a full assessment. If they believe they are entitled to more, they are welcome to continue with the full assessment.

People Places Lives: Contracts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the contract awarded by her Department to People Places Lives Ltd on 20 December 2023 under procurement reference 356323/1297062, if she will publish the deliverables specified in Schedule 2 of that contract.

Kevin Hollinrake: Yes. The deliverables specified in Schedule 2 of the contract have been published on 17/01/24 and may be found at https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/acc5aca2-f3e3-4c96-8e66-ffd097512dd6.

Horizon IT System: Greater Manchester

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data his Department holds on the number of subpostmasters in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Greater Manchester who (i) were wrongfully convicted and (ii) left their jobs as a result of the flawed Horizon accounting system.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government does not hold the data requested.95 postmasters in England have had their convictions overturned to date. The Government will fast-track legislation to overturn the convictions of all those convicted in England or Wales.Our focus is on ensuring that all those who lost their Post Office roles or experienced other losses as a result of the Horizon scandal receive the compensation they deserve.

Horizon IT System: North West

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many subpostmasters in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West were (i) wrongfully convicted and (ii) quit as a result of the flawed Horizon accounting system.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government does not hold the data requested.95 postmasters in England have had their convictions overturned to date. The Government will fast-track legislation to overturn the convictions of all those convicted in England or Wales.Our focus is on ensuring that all those who lost their Post Office roles or experienced other losses as a result of the Horizon scandal receive the compensation they deserve.

Caravans

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will conduct a review into the regulation of (a) sales of caravans and (b) management fees at static caravan sites.

Kevin Hollinrake: Caravan park owners and operators are subject to consumer protection legislation in the same way as any other business which has dealings with consumers.For example, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA), goods purchased (including caravans) have to be as described, of a satisfactory quality, and fit for a particular purpose.The CRA also protects consumers from unfair contractual terms being applied by traders such as park operators.We are further strengthening the enforcement of this framework in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. Therefore, the Government has no plans to further regulate the sales of caravans.

Fireworks: Sales

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to review legislation on the sale of fireworks.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had discussions with her counterpart in the Scottish Government on the effectiveness of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 in tackling (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) animal welfare concerns.

Kevin Hollinrake: There is a comprehensive legislative framework regulating the manufacture, storage, supply, possession and use of fireworks in the UK. The Government has no current plans to review the legislation, but we continue to monitor the situation. The Government regularly engages with its counterparts in Scotland. We have discussed the recent Scottish legislative changes with them, and we will continue to discuss the impacts of their approach to fireworks legislation.

Postal Services: Standards

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will have discussions with Royal Mail on the potential impact of the reduction in opening hours at Royal Mail customer service points on Royal Mail's ability to meet its (a) universal service obligation and (b) quality of service targets.

Kevin Hollinrake: Decisions on the opening hours of customer service points are an operational matter for Royal Mail. The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions. It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of spending on strategy consultancy services on his Department since 2010.

James Cartlidge: The use of External Assistance is justified where it does not make economic sense for the Department to maintain all the specialist skills needed permanently in house. In many cases sourcing this expertise on a temporary, contractual basis can offer greater value for money than direct, permanent employment.The department does not conduct assessments of this nature. Programme success is measured against delivery of the expected outcomes within the agreed time and cost parameters for that specific programme.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of spending on organisation and change management consultancy services on his Department since 2010.

James Cartlidge: The use of External Assistance is justified where it does not make economic sense for the Department to maintain all the specialist skills needed permanently in house. In many cases sourcing this expertise on a temporary, contractual basis can offer greater value for money than direct, permanent employment.The department does not conduct assessments of this nature. Programme success is measured against delivery of the expected outcomes within the agreed time and cost parameters for that specific programme.

National Grid: Infrastructure

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with the National Grid on the proposed pylons from Norwich to Tilbury.

James Cartlidge: The Defence Infrastructure Organisation, on behalf of the Secretary of State, has formally been consulted regarding the proposed pylons from Norwich to Tilbury. This was following a request made by the National Grid Electricity Transmission to the Planning Inspectorate.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of spending on technical consultancy services on his Department since 2010.

James Cartlidge: The use of External Assistance is justified where it does not make economic sense for the Department to maintain all the specialist skills needed permanently in house. In many cases sourcing this expertise on a temporary, contractual basis can offer greater value for money than direct, permanent employment.The department does not conduct assessments of this nature. Programme success is measured against delivery of the expected outcomes within the agreed time and cost parameters for that programme.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many compensation payments related to (a) Service Family Accommodation and (b) Single Living Accommodation properties his Department has paid since 1 April 2022.

James Cartlidge: A total of 33,237 compensation payments relating to Service Family Accommodation properties have been paid since 1 April 2022. No compensation payments are paid in respect of Single Living Accommodation properties.

Defence Equipment & Support: Women

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 9 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, how many women have completed the four leadership development training programmes designed specifically for women with high potential as of 18 January 2024.

James Cartlidge: There were four initial cohorts of high potential candidates in 2022-23, totalling 28 individuals. This training was then opened up as a generic leadership offer for women, taken up by an additional 89 individuals in 2023. A breakdown of participant numbers by cohort is shown in the following table: Cohort numberHigh potential or leadership programmeNumber of participantsProgramme dates1High potential14Feb-Jun 20222High potential14Mar-Jun 20223High potential15Sep 2022-Feb 20234High potential15Oct 2022-Mar 20235Leadership15Feb-Jun 20236Leadership15Feb-Jun 20237Leadership15Sep-Dec 20238Leadership15Sep-Dec 20239Leadership15Sep-Dec 202310Leadership14Sep-Dec 2023

Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 6769 on Ministry of Defence: Written Questions, when he plans to respond to Question 4952 on Defence: Buildings tabled by the Rt hon. Member for North Durham on 4 December 2023 for Answer on 7 December 2023.

James Cartlidge: I responded to the right hon. Member on 19 January 2024.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) urgent and (b) routine maintenance and repair appointments for service accommodation properties have been missed since April 1 2022.

James Cartlidge: Since April 2022, 18,277 appointments for Service Family Accommodation properties have been missed. This figure includes reactive repairs, planned maintenance and all other appointed tasks such as damp and mould. Typically, around circa 22,000 work orders are raised per month, on average 96.3% of appointments are kept. A further breakdown of this figure by priority category (urgent and routine) can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 21 December 2022 to Question 110584 on Armed Forces: Housing, how much his Department has spent on housing forces personnel and their dependents in emergency accommodation due to major repair needs at their military accommodation since 1 April 2022.

James Cartlidge: From 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2023, the Department has spent £1,426,784 on housing forces personnel and their dependents in emergency accommodation due to major repairs needed at their military accommodation. Where an alternative permanent solution is either not appropriate or not immediately available, families are placed into temporary accommodation. Temporary accommodation is provided for a number of reasons, including non-habitable faults at Move-In, leaks, heating/hot water issues, total loss of cooking facilities, fires or floods.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military housing units were treated for (a) damp and mould, (b) loss of heating, (c) loss of hot water, (d) loss of water supply, (e) electrical faults, (f) pest infestation and (g) property damage since 1 April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The table below provides the number of Service Family Accommodation properties which have been treated for damp and mould, loss of heating, loss of hot water, loss of water supply, electrical faults, and pest infestation since 1 April 2022. The damp and mould figures are provided from February 2023 when the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s Damp and Mould Taskforce was established. Previous damp and mould reports were treated as part of routine repairs and maintenance and cannot be provided. Issues relating to the loss of heating and hot water are not recorded separately as boiler faults often affect both. Property damage figures cannot be provided as data is not captured in this way, rather work orders are raised against a specified fault. IssueNo. of SFA PropertiesSupporting NotesDamp and mould1,674 Loss of heating and hot water24,102This figure includes all repairs associated with heating such as condensate pipes freezing in extremely cold weather, a faulty single radiator valve, a lack of hot water to individual taps and are not limited to just a total loss of heating or water loss.Loss of water supply48 Electrical faults29,886The electrical fault figure includes faults such as light bulb changes, one hob of an electric oven not working and electric shower issues. It does not always relate to any safety issue or total loss of electricity.Pest infestation5,123Pest control requests are responded to within 3 hours if an emergency, and within 15 days if routine.

AWE Burghfield: Nuclear Weapons

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on external consultants for the MENSA programme.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on external consultants for the PEGASUS programme.

James Cartlidge: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the right hon. Member’s Questions. I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Firearms: Armed Forces

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has considered the potential merits of introducing the FN EVOLYS 7.62 mm ultralight machine gun for use by the armed forces.

James Cartlidge: The Department is in the very early stages of the procurement of a light assault machine gun. Requirements are being set and experimentation has commenced. There are several commercial options which may be suitable and in time competition will be held to select the most appropriate system.

National Security: Cybersecurity

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on external consultants for the Joint Crypt Key Programme programme.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor (Alex Chalk) on 19 January 2023, 120870, on MOD spending on external consultants for the Joint Crypt Key Programme.National Security: Cybersecurity (docx, 25.1KB)

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation's Families First Newsletter published on 14 December 2023, how many of the 1000 void homes undergoing repair and maintenance have been completed.

James Cartlidge: The additional funding to bring c1000 void homes back online through a nationwide programme of high-quality refurbishment works, was allocated at the end of July 2023.To date, 82 refurbishments have been completed. The majority of the work for the remaining homes has been instructed and the refurbishment programme is well underway. A refurbishment will only be counted as complete once all works are complete, work has been assured, and any snags have been rectified. It is anticipated that the majority of works will be completed by the end of this Financial Year.

Armed Forces: Discharges

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time was between notification of discharge and actual discharge for the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Sexual Harassment

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on sexual harassment awareness training for armed forces personnel in each of the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence’s position is very clear that no-one should be made to feel unsafe in our Armed Forces and unacceptable behaviour is not tolerated. We are committed to stamping this out and we continue to encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed this kind of sexual harassment, to report it immediately. The Armed Forces do not have a dedicated sexual harassment awareness training package; instead, this is incorporated into other training modules which are mandated for all military staff. As such, it is not possible to break this down into a separate cost.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it remains his policy to launch the new accommodation offer for armed forces personnel on 11 March.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Yes. From 11 March 2024, the Ministry of Defence will begin introducing a new accommodation offer for our Armed Forces.The new offer is intended to modernise accommodation entitlements, improve the standard of Single Living Accommodation, update the overseas accommodation offer and, overall, give our people more of a say in how they live.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Accidents

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to issue a response to the Defence Safety Authority's report entitled fatal accident involving a Scimitar Fighting Vehicle on Salisbury Plain Training Area 15 October 2021, published on 23 November 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: A redacted version of the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) Service Inquiry (SI) report following the death of Private Jethro Watson-Pickering from 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, in an accident involving a Scimitar Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) on Salisbury Plain Training Area on 15 Oct 21 was published in Nov 23.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigation-into-the-fatal-accident-involving-a-scimitar-fighting-vehicle-on-salisbury-plain-training-area-15-october-2021  The welfare of our personnel is of the utmost importance and the Army has accepted all 52 of the recommendations in this report. There are however no plans to issue a formal response. CVR(T) Scimitar is no longer in service; however, where the recommendations are applicable to other in-service armoured platforms, they will be implemented as soon as possible. The Army will review the Coroner's findings when available, to identify any additional recommendations.

AWE: Databases

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the (a) annual cost to his Department of, (b) number of records held on and (c) purpose of the Merlin database held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials of (a) his Department and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment have the security clearance required to access the Merlin database held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what level of security clearance is required to access the Merlin database held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Merlin database held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment is among the files routinely checked when nuclear veterans make a Data Subject Access Request.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when documentation relevant to nuclear test veterans’ litigation was first stored on the Merlin database held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Merlin database of the Atomic Weapons Establishment was established.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Merlin database was created in 2007 by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). The database contains over 28,000 records relating to historic technical and scientific documentation on the UK’s nuclear testing programme. It was developed to store relevant factual documentary evidence to take into account when considering nuclear test veterans’ compensation claims but does not include medical records. The Merlin database is interrogated when a Data Subject Access Request is received by AWE from a nuclear test veteran. Seven officials at AWE have appropriate clearance to access the database which includes recorded information ranging from unclassified up to Secret Atomic classified material. Information on the annual costs of maintaining the Merlin database is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost as the support and maintenance costs are calculated as part of a larger suite of unrelated applications.

Nuclear Weapons: Testing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence People and Families during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records on 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 247WH, when he plans that the Minister will (a) start and (b) complete his examination of the 150 files.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 January to Question 8684 to the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (John Baron).Nuclear Weapons: Testing (docx, 28.3KB)

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 9179 on HMS Prince of Wales, who is conducting investigations into the illegal salvage of the wreck of HMS Prince of Wales; and when he expects those investigations to conclude.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Malaysian authorities have primacy regarding the investigations into the illegal salvage of the wreck of HMS Prince of Wales, as investigations are ongoing it would be inappropriate to speculate when these will conclude.

Shipping: Contracts

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department calculates labour costs for the contracts it puts out to tender in the maritime sector.

James Cartlidge: Suppliers bidding for Ministry of Defence contracts include such costs in their tender.

Merchant Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department stipulates employment conditions on private companies that supply merchant navy seafarers to deliver public sector contracts.

James Cartlidge: All companies are required to adhere to relevant employment legislation in the jurisdiction in which they operate.

Armed Forces: Uniforms

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has received on (a) the sourcing of bearskin hats from Canada and (b) the method by which those bears are killed.

James Cartlidge: I can confirm that the Department has received representations from organisations and members of the public concerning the sourcing of bearskin hats, and the methods by which the bears are killed, with which we continue to engage. Please be assured however that bears are never hunted to order for use by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Bear pelts that are used by the MOD are by-products of legal and licensed hunts authorised by each individual Canadian Province and Territory to manage the wild bear population. Furs used by Defence are only procured via local Canadian suppliers with a ‘Furmark’ accreditation. This is a global certification and traceability system for natural furs that guarantees animal welfare and environmental standards, and in turn ensures the ethical sourcing and sustainability of the fur.

Ministry of Defence: Contracts

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list all commercial contracts his Department has with external contractors in the maritime industry including what the (a) value and (b) full-time equivalent staffing is for each contract.

James Cartlidge: Central Departmental Data does not include a 'Maritime Industry' field on which a search can be undertaken.

Defence Equipment & Support: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the Defence Equipment and Support Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, how much has been spent on the refurbishment of the office accommodation as of 18 January 2024.

James Cartlidge: The summarised costs of the totals spent by Defence Equipment & Support on refurbishment of office accommodation from Financial Year 2022-23 to date are shown in the table below. Please note that the figures for Financial Year (FY) 2023-24 extend only up to 31 December 2023; the accounting period for January 2024 remains open with the final figure for this month still to be finalised. Office Accommodation Refurbishment CostsFY2022-23FY2023-24 (up to 31/12/23)Total 22/23 & 23/24 Year To DateRefurbishment costs within DE&S accounts724,079376,3271,100,406 DE&S Transfers to DIO for refurbishment projects1,169,9631,824,1052,994,068 Total 1,894,042 2,200,432 4,094,474

Radioactive Materials: Transport

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which types of RAF aircraft are authorised to carry special nuclear materials over UK territory; and which types of RAF aircraft are authorised by the US administration to carry such materials over US territory.

James Heappey: All flights between the UK and the United States are on fixed wing aircraft under the control of UK Armed Forces.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 60 on Ukraine: Military Aid, whether any further contracts for the International Fund for Ukraine have been awarded.

James Heappey: A further  seven International Fund for Ukraine contracts have been placed since 15 November 2023. The International Fund for Ukraine has now awarded  23 contracts, with a total value of c.  £298 million.

Department of Health and Social Care

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of waiting times for adult gender affirming care appointments on the mental health of those individuals.

Maria Caulfield: Demand for adult gender services has reached unprecedented levels. We have therefore significantly increased investment in mental health and gender services.NHS England have increased the number of adult Gender Clinics from 7 to 12 by rolling out 5 pilot clinics, including in Sussex. These pilots are being evaluated to inform decisions on their wider rollout.We are also increasing the numbers of clinicians in gender medicine through an accredited post-graduate training credential.

Question

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to help ensure the return of maternity and children’s services to the Alexandra hospital in Redditch.

Maria Caulfield: I know that my honourable friend has campaigned tirelessly on this issue on behalf of her constituents.As a result, she will understand that the decisions about the reconfiguration of services are made locally, following appropriate engagement with people and communities.However I am pleased to say that by working with the local NHS, we have invested £18 million in the hospital’s operating theatre and secured a long-term workforce pipeline through the Three Counties Medical School.

Community Diagnostic Centres

Mrs Heather Wheeler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress she has made on increasing the number of tests carried out at community diagnostic centres.

Andrew Stephenson: I am pleased to inform my Hon. Friend that CDCs have now delivered over 6 million additional tests since July 2021 thanks to the hard work of NHS staff.The number of tests provided by these centres has grown by an average of 13,000 (6%) each month over the last 12 months.150 centres are currently operational, and the programme is on track to meet its target of 160 CDCs by March 2025, with many due to open ahead of schedule.

Dementia: Social Services

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that families affected by dementia are able to access funding for care.

Helen Whately: The Department has produced guidance on what to expect from health and care services following a dementia diagnosis. The guidance can help those diagnosed with dementia, or supporting someone with dementia, to understand the support and services available to them in England and how they can access this support.People who may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), a National Health Service-funded package of ongoing care for adults with complex needs, should be referred by a health or social care professional to their integrated care board for screening and comprehensive assessment as appropriate. CHC may be appropriate for adults with the highest levels of complex, intense or unpredictable needs, who have been assessed as having a primary health need.

Question

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle health inequalities in the North East.

Andrea Leadsom: As Vice-Chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health, the Honourable Lady will know that Government’s commitment to a smoke-free generation will tackle the single biggest driver of the health gap.Local authorities in the North East will receive an extra £3.7m for smoking cessation services next year, and £27m to treat drug addiction which harms deprived communities most.Dental health inequalities are also a real concern. We will consult on a water fluoridation scheme for the North East, which will deliver greatest benefit to children and adults in disadvantaged communities.

Coronavirus
: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to ensure people diagnosed as medically vulnerable can access covid-19 vaccination regardless of the medication they are taking.

Maria Caulfield: The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe disease, including hospitalisation and death, arising from COVID-19. The risk of developing severe COVID-19 continues to be strongly associated with increasing age and underlying health conditions.In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice accepted by the Government, the offer of vaccination is therefore focused on those at greatest risk. In autumn 2023, this included all adults aged 65 years old and over and those aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, as defined in the UK Health Security Agency’s Green Book on immunisation.This offer was open to all eligible individuals regardless of medication status. Clinicians can advise on individual circumstances, and anyone concerned should seek relevant advice.

Mental Health Services: Women

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that mental health services are accessible to women in all regions.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services by March 2024, enabling an extra two million people, including women, to be treated by mental health services within the National Health Service. In addition, we are investing £25 million to expand women’s health hubs.We are expanding access to psychological and talking therapies within specialist perinatal mental health services. This expansion includes new Maternal Mental Health Services, which bring together psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women who have mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across the whole of England by March 2024.

Question

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on recruitment and retention of NHS staff.

Andrew Stephenson: I discuss a range of issues with cabinet colleagues, including NHS workforce, which the hon. Gentleman rightly raises as an important subject.Staff are the beating heart of the NHS. The Long Term Workforce Plan, the first of its kind in the history of the NHS, sets out measures to ensure that the NHS retains an additional 130,000 staff over the next 15 years.

Cervical Cancer: Health Education

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of cervical cancer awareness campaigns at reaching people under 25.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department has not made an assessment, as there are no cervical cancer awareness campaigns run by the National Health Service specifically for people under the age of 25 years old.

Ovarian Cancer: Diagnosis

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average time taken to diagnose ovarian cancer (a) in West Yorkshire and (b) nationally.

Andrew Stephenson: The most recent data for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer in West Yorkshire shows a 23-day average from an urgent referral for suspected cancer to diagnosis. This data is based on median values, taken across a twelve-month period from November 2022 to October 2023 inclusive.Patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer can be diagnosed via other routes, such as when presenting as an emergency case in an unplanned care setting, or as an incidental finding when referred for another elective condition or suspected abnormality, either urgently or non-urgently. Data for these alternative presentation routes in the format requested is not held.

Health Professions: Conditions of Employment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) review and (b) issue guidance on (i) pay levels and (ii) other employment terms for (A) physician associates, (B) anaesthesia associates and (C) doctors in training.

Andrew Stephenson: Physician associates (PAs), anaesthesia associates (AAs) and doctors in training are employed under different contractual arrangements.PAs and AAs are employed on the Agenda for Change (AfC) contract. Levels of pay for AfC staff are set through the annual NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) process. The NHS Staff Council has overall responsibility for maintaining the terms and conditions of employment for AfC staff.However, in 2023/24, the council accepted a pay deal through direct negotiations with the Government, and the NHS PRB was stood down from providing recommendations. The NHS PRB will provide pay recommendations for AfC staff in 2024/25.Doctors in training are employed on a separate contract. As part of the latest round of talks with the British Medical Association junior doctors committee in November 2023, we explored proposals on pay scale reform and other non-pay measures. These talks broke down in December 2023. The Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration will provide pay recommendations for this group for 2024/25.There are no current plans to issue guidance on the above points.

Health Professions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to ensure a clear delineation of responsibilities between different health professionals.

Andrew Stephenson: Regulated healthcare professionals work within a defined scope of practice and limits of competence, aligned to an established curriculum. Their detailed scope of practice in a given setting is circumscribed by their supervisor and/or employer.The regulatory bodies set the standards of training and education required to gain entry to their registers and the standards of professional conduct and performance expected of registrants.If a regulated health professional practises outside of their competence or their scope of practice, or breaches their code of conduct, the regulator has a statutory duty to take action to protect patient safety.

Allied Health Professions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to regulate additional Medical Allied Professionals.

Andrew Stephenson: In 2017, the Government consulted on proposals to regulate four medical associate professions: physician associates (PAs), physicians’ assistant (anaesthesia), now called anaesthesia associates (AAs), surgical care practitioners and advanced critical care practitioners. On 7 February 2019, the Government published its response to the consultation, confirming its decision to introduce statutory regulation for PAs and AAs only.The Government keeps the professions subject to statutory regulation under review and in 2022, published the consultation, Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate, seeking views on the criteria used to decide when regulation is necessary, and whether there are any unregulated professions that should be brought into statutory regulation. The response to this consultation will be published in due course.

Hospitals: Parking Offences

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of NHS clinical staff that were issued with parking penalty notices by NHS hospitals in each region in the last 12 months.

Andrew Stephenson: The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service hospital car parking is free for those with greatest needs. This includes disabled blue badge holders, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of children staying in hospital overnight and NHS staff working overnight.NHS organisations decide locally on the provision and charging for their car parking within the policies set out in the NHS Patient, Visitor and Staff Car Parking Principles. This will include when it is appropriate to issue parking penalty notices.

Cystic Fibrosis: Medical Treatments

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NICE’s assessment of the costs and benefits of funding a medication takes into account the size of the community affected; and what discussions NICE has had with patients on the use of Kaftrio for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not take the size of the affected community into account when making recommendation on the clinical and cost effectiveness of medicines.In 2017, a Budget Impact Test was introduced to mitigate the affordability challenge that higher cost medicines for large patient populations can present to the National Health Service, even at a cost-effective price. If the estimated budget impact of a medicine exceeds £20 million in any of the first three years of its use, NHS England may engage in commercial discussions with the company to mitigate the impact that funding the medicine would have on the rest of the NHS.NICE is currently developing guidance for the NHS on the clinical and cost effectiveness of Kaftrio and other cystic fibrosis medicines and is engaging with patient groups as part of the appraisal process. NICE recently consulted on its draft recommendations and is now engaging with key stakeholders to determine the most appropriate next steps. This includes exploring potential commercial solutions.

Medicine: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support the research and development of medical technologies in the UK.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department-funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research to develop medical technologies through its research programmes, primarily the invention for innovation programme. This programme provides funding to industry and researchers to develop innovative healthcare technologies, including medical devices, which address existing or emerging health and social care needs. The NIHR also supports the development of medical technologies through its research infrastructure, primarily the Medtech and In Vitro Diagnostic Co-operatives, which will be replaced with the NIHR HealthTech Research Centres (HRCs) from 1 April 2024. The 14 NIHR HRCs will work with industry and researchers to support the whole pathway from development of medical devices, diagnostics and digital technologies, through to adoption in the health and care system.

Thromboembolism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an estimate of the cost to NHS Trusts of the management of venous thromboembolism.

Andrew Stephenson: Data on the costs of venous thromboembolism (VTE) treatment is not held centrally. NHS England are actively reviewing how best to monitor VTE prevention practices at a national level, working with key stakeholders including Thrombosis UK.

Strokes: West Yorkshire

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of support available to people affected by strokes in West Yorkshire.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board have a dedicated team who are working to implement the National Stroke Service Model. This outlines best practice for stroke care for the National Health Service.The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Stroke Delivery Network (ISDN) is currently collaborating with all community stroke teams in the area to transform and improve their services. This work has identified gaps in the current workforce provision and differences across the network that will need resolving so it can deliver the recommended national model by NHS England. The West Yorkshire and Harrogate ISDN is working with all community stroke teams to develop a long-term strategy to: - address the shortage of qualified staff;- reconfigure existing services to continually improve;- achieve efficiency savings; and- promote and spread innovative practice throughout the network.

E. coli

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable for publishing the report on the E.coli O157 outbreak that started in August 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The report is expected to be published in March 2024.

Vaccination: Integrated Care Boards

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's vaccination strategy, published on 13 December 2023, what guidance Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and NHS regional bodies will receive to ensure that vaccine monitoring is (a) comparable with other ICBs and (b) collated at a national level to monitor England’s vaccine performance, after they become responsible for monitoring vaccine performance.

Maria Caulfield: Guidance for integrated care boards (ICBs) on this issue is yet to be developed. NHS England will develop guidance on this issue at the time of any delegation and in consultation with the Department. ICBs would still be expected to meet and consistently report on national performance standards for uptake and coverage, and national data for uptake and coverage of vaccinations will continue to be published following any delegation.

Vaccination

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference the NHS England's vaccination strategy, published on 13 December 2023, what steps she (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to help ensure that NHS England is able to monitor (i) vaccine uptake and (ii) vaccine performance across England after vaccination commissioning and performance monitoring is delegated to Integrated Care Boards.

Maria Caulfield: Following any delegation, integrated care boards (ICBs) would still be expected to meet and report on national performance standards for uptake and coverage, and national data for uptake and coverage of vaccinations will continue to be published. The national vaccination strategy also suggests that this is enhanced by introducing additional requirements for understanding performance in communities that are currently underserved by vaccination services, and NHS England will be working with the UK Health Security Agency, ICBs and other partners to develop this further.

Vaccination: Procurement

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England’s vaccination strategy, published on 13 December 2023, what assessment her Department has made of Integrated Care Boards’ readiness to take on responsibility for commissioning vaccination services by April 2025.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and its regional commissioning teams are working with integrated care boards (ICBs) to prepare for any future delegation of commissioning responsibility for vaccination services. This is likely to include a period of formal joint working between NHS England teams and ICBs to support collaborative decision-making. As with any delegation process, an assessment of ICB readiness will be required prior to any changes being made and the Department will be involved in this assessment. Following delegation, ICBs will need to provide assurance to NHS England that they are exercising the delegated functions safely and effectively, in line with the NHS Oversight Framework.NHS England will remain accountable to the Secretary of State for the delivery and performance of national vaccination programmes as set out in the NHS public health functions.

Vaccination: Immunosuppression

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's vaccination strategy, published on 13 December 2023, what guidance her Department plans to provide to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to ensure that vaccinators are trained to consider people with blood cancer who have received stem cell transplants when determining who has access to re-vaccination programmes, once ICBs become responsible for training vaccinators.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's publication entitled NHS vaccination strategy, published on 13 December 2023, whether she plans to issue guidance to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) on the best practice for administering vaccinations for individuals with weakened immune systems.

Maria Caulfield: Eligibility for vaccination programmes is determined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) rather than the National Health Service or individual vaccinators. NHS England or JCVI may issue guidance on administering vaccines to certain groups and individuals including those who are immunocompromised. Training standards in vaccine administration will continue to be set by the UK Health Security Agency, and employers will be responsible for training their staff in accordance with these standards. In line with the vaccination strategy, NHS England will consider which national training and workforce management tools would support integrated care boards and employers to drive innovation in vaccination delivery including ways of supporting different eligible groups.

Mental Health: Health Professions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to regulate all professions working in mental health.

Maria Caulfield: In the United Kingdom, a number of mental health practitioners are subject to statutory regulation. Mental health nurses are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council while practitioner psychologists and arts therapists are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council. These regulatory bodies set the standards of education and behaviour that professionals must meet to practise. Other mental health professionals that are not subject to statutory regulation can join voluntary registers accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). The PSA accredits 12 voluntary registers of mental health professionals, including counsellors and psychotherapists.The Government keeps the professions subject to statutory regulation under review and in 2022, published the consultation, Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate, seeking views on the criteria used to decide when regulation is necessary, and whether there are any unregulated professions that should be brought into statutory regulation. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.

Mental Health Services: West Yorkshire

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health care provision in (a) Dewsbury constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.

Maria Caulfield: No such assessment has been made. We are investing at least £2.3 billion of additional funding a year by March 2024 compared to 2018/19 to expand and transform mental health services in England so that two million more people can get the mental health support that they need including in Dewsbury constituency and West Yorkshire.

Counselling: Children and Young People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve access to and (b) reduce waiting times for counselling for children and young people.

Maria Caulfield: We are investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24, which will allow an extra 345,000 more children and young people to get the National Health Service-funded mental health support they need. There are now almost 400 mental health support teams in place in schools and colleges across England so that more young people get mental health support. Mental health support teams now cover over three million children or around 35% of pupils in schools and colleges. We are aiming to increase this coverage to 50% by April 2025. There are currently approximately 65 locally funded early support hubs in England. These hubs are open to those aged between 11 and 25 years old and, importantly, they are for anyone who may not meet the threshold to receive NHS support. This means children and young people experiencing feelings of anxiety or stress will have a physical space to go to in their community when their problems first emerge without the need for a referral.On 25 October 2023, we announced £4.92 million of new funding to deliver and evaluate innovative mental health and wellbeing support for young people at 10 hub sites across England until the end of 2024/25. Bids are currently being considered and the ten successful hubs will be announced in due course.

Wheelchairs

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will take steps to reduce the waiting time for specialist electric wheelchairs for NHS patients.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to receive specialist electric wheelchairs on NHS patients.

Maria Caulfield: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services and the development of their local wheelchair service eligibility criteria based on the needs of their local population.NHS England is taking several steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs including any specialist electric wheelchair provision, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. These include establishing a national wheelchair dataset, developing a national wheelchair tariff, publishing a wheelchair model service specification, and introducing personal wheelchair budgets.Information on waiting times for specialist electric wheelchairs for NHS patients is not held centrally. Although there is a national data collection for wheelchair services, which includes waiting times data, this does not include specific data on the type of wheelchair provided. We do not currently have any plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to receive specialist electric wheelchairs on NHS patients.

Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much compensation has been paid out by the vaccine damage payment scheme since Covid-19 was added to the scheme.

Maria Caulfield: Between COVID-19 being added to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) on 31 December 2020 and 16 January 2024, £18,480,000 has been paid to claimants for claims in relation to an eligible vaccine, including COVID-19. A further £1,080,000 is due to be paid to claimants once we receive relevant documents from them. No claims to the VDPS have received compensation, as the VDPS is not a compensation scheme, and it is not designed to cover all expenses associated with severe disablement.

Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many claimants have successfully been awarded compensation by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme since Covid-19 was added to the scheme.

Maria Caulfield: Between COVID-19 being added to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) on 31 December 2020 and 16 January 2024, 163 claimants to the VDPS have received an award for claims in relation to an eligible vaccine, including COVID-19. No claims to the VDPS have received compensation, as the VDPS is not a compensation scheme, and it is not designed to cover all expenses associated with severe disablement.

Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for compensation have been (a) received, (b) accepted and (c) refused by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme since Covid-19 was added to the scheme.

Maria Caulfield: Between COVID-19 being added to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) on 31 December 2020 and 16 January 2024, 9,386 applications related to all vaccines, including those for COVID-19, were received by the VDPS. Following an independent medical assessment, 163 applications received award and 4,453 were rejected. A further 452 did not meet the criteria for medical assessment.

Mental Health Services: Children

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding (a) alternative therapy methods, (b) art therapy and (c) music therapy to help the mental wellbeing of children and young people.

Maria Caulfield: We have made no such assessment. Integrated care boards and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.

Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8607 on Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists, if she will provide this data by NHS provider.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is shown in the attached tables.Attachment (xlsx, 104.3KB)

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on transgender people of delays for specialist gender identity services.

Maria Caulfield: No formal assessment has been made, though NHS England is making important steps to address the increasing demand for specialist gender identity services.NHS England has increased investment in adult services by approximately 130% over the past five years and increased the number of gender dysphoria clinics in England from seven to 12 with the rollout of five new adult gender pilot clinics since July 2020. For children's services, NHS England set out its plans to improve services in July 2022 in line with recommendations from the Cass Review Interim Report. Two new Southern and Northern hubs led by five National Health Service trusts are set to be mobilised by April 2024. NHS England plans for there to be a total of 7-8 regional providers supported by a larger clinical workforce once the national transformation programme is complete.

Liver Diseases: Screening

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2023 to Question 191385 on Liver Diseases: Screening, which 10 community diagnostic centres provide FibroScans; and whether she plans to increase the number of such centres that will provide transient elastography for earlier detection of liver disease in 2024.

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £2.3 billion allocated for diagnostics in the Spending Review 2021 was spent on expanding FibroScan rollout in community diagnostic centres.

Andrew Stephenson: There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which six are operational. A further six CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.The following CDCs are currently offering FibroScan testing:- Bexhill CDC in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex;- New QEII Hospital CDC in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire;- St Helen’s CDC in St Helen’s, Merseyside;- Woking CDC in Woking, Surrey;- Hereford City CDC in Hereford; and- Andover CDC in Andover, Hampshire. The following CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024:- Bolton CDC in Bolton, Lancashire;- Ely CDC in Ely, Cambridgeshire;- Wisbech CDC in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire;- Gloucestershire Quayside CDC in Gloucester;- Northampton CDC in Northampton; and- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC in Roehampton, Surrey. We do not hold information on how much of the £2.3 billion allocated for diagnostics in the Spending Review 2021 has been spent on expanding the FibroScan rollout in CDCs, as this information is not routinely collected.

Liver Diseases: Diagnosis

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the diagnosis of liver disease.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to FibroScan testing for liver fibrosis through Community Diagnostic Centres.

Andrew Stephenson: There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which six are operational. A further six CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.The CDC core diagnostic tests offer is based on the recommendations in the Sir Mike Richards Review, and decisions on what tests are offered outside of the core requirements of CDCs is taken at a local level based on need.The Government is working with the National Health Service to support earlier diagnosis of liver disease and identifying patients at risk. This includes plans for upgrading laboratory digital capabilities as part of the £2.3 billion diagnostics transformation programme, to ensure that labs across the country have the capability to offer Intelligent Liver Function Tests, that can effectively and quickly identify patients at high risk of advanced fibrosis.The Government is also working with the NHS to deliver and consider the result from the pilot of the community liver health check programme, which is due to deliver 22,000 FibroScans per year to communities at particular risk of liver disease. From June 2022 to September 2023, over 26,500 FibroScans were delivered through the pilots, and 8% of people scanned have already been enrolled into liver surveillance programmes. The programme is being delivered across 19 areas by Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks to FibroScan patients at high risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, utilising 40 FibroScan machines.NHS England is reviewing existing liver diagnosis pathways as part of its wider diagnostic transformation work, to determine what the best approach should be to identify patients at an earlier stage of liver disease, through a liver pathway starting in primary care and involving pathology labs and CDCs. This will include a combination of blood tests and FibroScans.

Migraines: Health Services

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve NHS care for people with migraines; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing the availability of headache specialists in the NHS, (b) improving the provision of (i) training and resources for GPs and (ii) guidance for other health professionals on migraines and (c) increasing the role of pharmacies for providing primary care for people with migraines.

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that integrated care boards make an assessment of the adequacy of their (a) workforce planning and (b) other services for meeting the needs of their populations who are affected by migraines.

Andrew Stephenson: To ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels right across the National Health Service, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in June 2023. The LTWP sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP is a high-level plan to support the NHS workforce as a whole and is designed to identify the right supply of staff across all clinical pathways and specialisms rather than workforce plans for specific services.General practitioners are responsible for ensuring that their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills relevant to their role as generalist community-based doctors. This includes understanding how to recognise migraine and headache disorders and instigate appropriate treatment.Individual employers are responsible for investing in post-registration training, ensuring that staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and are adequately supported throughout their training. All training undertaken by post-registration qualified staff should be in line with national and local guidelines covering the training being undertaken.In England, all community pharmacies delivering NHS services must provide support for self-care, for example giving people advice and support, and where appropriate, the sale of appropriate over the counter (OTC) medicines. Advice and OTC migraine treatments are part of a well-established pathway in this context, and pharmacy teams are able to advise patients of their options.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. The RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit should be used by ICBs to ensure that people suffering from migraines are supported effectively. The toolkit sets out the key priorities for improvement, including correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders, and long-term management of patients in primary or community care. The toolkit also provides an opportunity for commissioners to self-assess and benchmark current systems’ service delivery and to explore opportunities for improvement.The toolkit is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/products/pathways/headache-and-migraine-toolkit/

Midwives

Siobhan Baillie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people entered the NHS midwifery workforce through (a) undergraduate training, (b) an apprenticeship, (c) a postgraduate conversion, (d) a return to midwifery programme and (e) international recruitment in the most recent period for which data are available; and if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of each such route on the size of the midwifery workforce in each of the (i) last and (ii) next five years.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is currently considering the methodology for undertaking a proper assessment of the impact of the various supply routes into the midwifery workforce. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in 2023 sets out the need to grow midwifery education and training, in line with the conclusions of the Ockenden Review. We will increase midwifery training placements from a baseline of 3,778 places to 4,269 places, and that by 2028 we envisage that about 5% will be through apprenticeships. We envisage that trusts will meet establishment levels set by midwifery staffing tools and achieve fill rates by 2027/28. Recent investment in midwifery of 650 training places in 2019 and 1,000 in each of the following three years means we expect to see solid growth in midwives of between 1.8 and 1.9% per year over the course of the plan. These increases are being measured against the 2018/19 baseline of 2,715 starters on midwifery programmes. And in early 2022, a funding offer was agreed to support 300 places for adult nurses on the shortened midwifery programme.

Cancer: Children

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the average time it takes for a child under the age of 18 diagnosed with cancer to start treatment.

Andrew Stephenson: We have not made a specific assessment; the Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment. Increasing the diagnosis and treatment referrals for cancers in young people, whilst reducing waiting times, is a priority for the Government. Although survival has more than doubled since the 1970s in the United Kingdom, there is more to be done to improve childhood cancer outcomes, including reducing waiting times between diagnosis and treatment.The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.In addition, the National Health Service now offers all children and young people with cancer whole genome sequencing to enable more comprehensive and precise diagnosis, and access to more personalised treatments.

Rare Diseases: Drugs

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) methods and (b) processes used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on access to medicines for patients with rarer diseases since January 2022; and whether this assessment will be reflected in the next Rare Diseases Action Plan for England.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the case for a rarity modifier in its standard technology appraisal programme as part of its modular updates to its methods and processes.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) can recommend most rare disease medicines that it appraises through the technology appraisal programme for some or all eligible patients. NICE has no current plans to undertake a modular update of its methods and processes related specifically to rare diseases. NICE specifically considered treatments for rare diseases during its methods review, and many of the changes introduced in NICE’s updated health technology evaluation manual in January 2022 will benefit treatments for rare diseases. These include the severity modifier, flexibility in uncertainty considerations and the emphasis on a comprehensive evidence base including real-world, qualitative, surrogate and expert evidence. These updates seek to mitigate the barriers faced by rare disease technologies while maintaining an evidence-based, robust and proportionate evaluation approach. The 2022 England Rare Diseases Action Plan was published following the NICE methods and processes review. The 2022 Action Plan includes actions to capitalise on the changes made to NICE’s methods and processes to ensure that NICE continues to support the rapid adoption of effective new treatments for National Health Service patients with rare diseases. The impact of these changes is being assessed and an update will be provided in the 2024 England Rare Diseases Action Plan.

General Practitioners: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain GPs.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of GPs in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: We are working with NHS England to increase the general practice (GP) workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. We have increased the number of GP training places and 2022 saw 4,032 trainees accepting a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board advises that primary care is recognised as the cornerstone of the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (ICS), and that the primary care sector in the ICS has made significant progress over recent years. It has set out key initiatives, including making Birmingham and Solihull a destination for newly qualified doctors and nurses and for existing doctors and nurses to feel valued. The ICS has been cited as an exemplar for the ‘New to Practice Fellowships Scheme’, which offers a two-year programme of support available to all newly-qualified GPs and nurses working substantively in general practice, with an explicit focus on working within and across primary care networks.

Cancer: Health Services

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of publishing a dedicated cancer strategy.

Andrew Stephenson: On 24 January 2023, the Government announced plans to publish the Major Conditions Strategy, which will focus on tackling the six major conditions groups: cancers, mental ill-health, cardiovascular disease including stroke and diabetes, dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders, that account for around 60% of ill-health and early death in England. Addressing cancer together with other major conditions will allow the Department and NHS England to focus on similarities in approach, ensuring care is better centred around the patient.Following the call for evidence for a 10-year cancer plan in 2022, the Department received over 5,000 submissions. These findings are being fed into the development of the Major Conditions Strategy.

Cancer: Waiting Lists

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that cancer waiting time targets are met in (a) Birmingham Erdington constituency and (b) England.

Andrew Stephenson: Reducing cancer treatment waiting times is a priority for the Government. The Department is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care. The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to cancer alliances to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.Additionally, the Government published the Major conditions strategy case for change and our strategic framework on 14 August 2023 which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including for cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer: Diagnosis

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of pancreatic cancers were diagnosed at an early stage in the most recent year for which information is available.

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the rate of diagnosis of pancreatic cancers at an early stage.

Andrew Stephenson: Latest figures from NHS Digital for cancers diagnosed between January and December 2021 show that 25% of pancreatic cancers were diagnosed at Stage 1 and 2.NHS England is developing new dedicated urgent diagnostic pathways for these patients so that every cancer patient with concerning, but non-specific symptoms, gets the right tests at the right time in as few visits as possible. There are now 113 of these pathways live, which are seeing more than 5,500 patients per month.NHS England is also providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at high-risk due to family history or at-risk genetic mutations and have formed an expert group to consider a pathway for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary cancers, including pancreatic cancer.NHS England is funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022 and the first report is expected in October 2024. In addition to this, the Getting it Right First-Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight actions National Health Service providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.

NHS: Standards

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2023 to Question 5383 on NHS: Standards, what steps her Department is taking to to ensure quality improvement across (a) NHS England, (b) Integrated Health and Care Boards and (c) NHS Hospital Trusts.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS Improving Patient Care Together is the single improvement approach to support all National Health Service organisations, systems, and providers at every level, including NHS England, to have the skills and techniques to deliver continuous improvement. Information and resources are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhsimpact/about-nhs-impact/ The performance of integrated care boards (ICBs) in the exercise of their functions is assessed, annually, by NHS England. The NHS Oversight Framework describes NHS England’s approach to the oversight of ICBs, and is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-oversight-framework/

Diabetes: Health Services

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase the number of people living with diabetes who receive their NICE recommended care processes.

Andrew Stephenson: Recovery of routine diabetes care following the pandemic is a key priority for the NHS England Diabetes Programme. Transformation funding between 2020/21 and 2022/23 has supported recovery, as such that rates of routine care delivery are now almost back to the pre-pandemic level. Services in the National Health Service are asked to continue this upward trajectory, with a particular focus on ensuring that people from socio-economically deprived areas receive their annual reviews. According to the report from the fourth quarter of 2022/23, the percentage of people who received all eight National Institute of Health and Care Excellence recommended care processes in England between January 2022 and March 2023 was 40.5% for type 1 diabetes and 57.8% for type 2/other diabetes, 15.3% and 20.6% higher respectively than the same period in the previous year. The percentages remained slightly lower than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, where in the fourth quarter of 2019/20, they were 42.3% and 58.5%, respectively.

Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates: Regulation

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in the Welsh government on the regulation of (a) physician associates and (b) anaesthesia associates.

Andrew Stephenson: Ministers have corresponded with their counterparts in the Welsh Government, alongside those in Scotland and Northern Ireland, in taking forward the work to bring physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) into regulation.The regulation of PAs and AAs has been subject to extensive public consultation over several years. Throughout the project, officials have engaged thoroughly with stakeholders including the regulators, the devolved administrations, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, representative bodies, and service users in developing the policy behind this legislation.This engagement has been crucial in shaping both our policy intention and the resultant legislation, to ensure that it remains a practical piece of legislation for the benefit of patient safety and registrants.

Cabinet Office

Public Buildings: Concrete

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on (a) the progress of each Department in confirming the presence or absence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in public buildings and (b) which Departments have completed this work.

Alex Burghart: Substantial progress has been made across government Departments to identify any instance of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) across their public building portfolios.Departments are progressing with their final identification surveys, and are implementing remediation action plans.As per the guidance from the leading professional body, the Institution of Structural Engineers: following appropriate surveys, where RAAC is identified it is either monitored, reinforced, or replaced. Government Departments continue to follow this guidance.Each Department owns and maintains the data relating to specific locations, identification and remediation plans within their estate.

World Economic Forum

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Ministers have represented the UK at the World Economic Forum in Davos in each year since 2015.

Alex Burghart: Ministers from the following departments have attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting with officials since 2018: Her Majesty’s Treasury (2020, 2019 and 2018); Cabinet Office (2022); and the Departments for International Trade (2023, 2022, 2019 and 2018); Health and Social Care (2019); Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2023, 2019 and 2018); Culture, Media and Sport (2019 and 2018); and International Development (2019). The then Prime Minister also attended in 2018. The Cabinet Office does not hold centralised records of ministerial attendance at the WEF Annual Meeting prior to 2018.

Cabinet Office: ICT

Julie Elliott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on software updates to legacy computer systems in each of the last three years.

Alex Burghart: Most of the systems within Cabinet Office operate on the basis of updates being provided within the licence costs. As such there is no specific budget or spend for updates. The Cabinet Office employs the Legacy IT Assessment Risk Framework, a standardised methodology designed by the Central Digital and Data Office, to assess the risks associated with legacy digital technology assets across His Majesty's Government. The highest category of risk within the framework is known as ‘red-rated’. This approach enables the Cabinet Office to generate a prioritised overview of our legacy technology, clearly highlighting assets that necessitate remediation plans and the allocation of suitable funding for implementation. Where we have allocated funding to develop, sustain or migrate legacy systems of our Red Rated Systems we have: Budgeted £21,405,400 over the last three years and;Spending within that timeframe has been consistent with the budget. In addition, the Cabinet Office is currently refining its approach to the definition and management of Legacy Systems.

Overseas Trade: Palau

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value of trade between the UK and Palau was in (a) 2023 and (b) 2020.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 15th January is attached. UK Statistics Authority (pdf, 110.8KB)

Blood: Contamination

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to help ensure that all those affected by contaminated blood receive appropriate compensation; and what is his planned timetable for finalising the compensation framework.

John Glen: I recognise that the use of Infected Blood and blood products was an appalling tragedy. Clinical, legal and social care experts are being appointed to advise the Cabinet Office on technical considerations to inform the Government’s response to the Inquiry’s recommendations on compensation. The Inquiry will publish its final report on 20th May and I have committed to updating Parliament within 25 sitting days of its publication.

Department for Work and Pensions

Access to Work Programme: Telephone Services

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed to work on the access to work telephone helpline.

Mims Davies: There are currently 131.76 (full time equivalent) colleagues within the Access to Work Service Centre. These are not Case Managers dealing with applications for Access to Work but a separate team that covers telephony, processing claims for reimbursement of costs and other administrative tasks. The team is multi-functional and will be deployed on different areas dependant on demand and business priorities.

Access to Work Scheme: Medical Examinations

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are waiting for an Access to Work assessment as of 16 January 2023.

Mims Davies: Access to Work statistics are published annually and figures, including those for January 2023, can be found here

Disability: Employment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress his Department has made on publication of the Disability Action Plan.

Mims Davies: Since the consultation closed on 6 October 2023 we have been working carefully through the responses and we aim to publish the Disability Action Plan as soon as possible.

Social Security Benefits: Eligibility

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria determining whether individuals should receive social security benefits.

Jo Churchill: DWP administers a range of benefits, each with its own eligibility criteria that are kept under review.

Health and Safety Executive

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the Health and Safety Executive's annual budget is for accessing scientific papers and other academic journals; to which academic journals it subscribes; and whether there are any relevant academic journals to which it does not have access in the context of its work on UK REACH.

Paul Maynard: The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Annual Budget for accessing scientific papers and other academic journals was £52k in the 22/23 financial year. This value can vary year on year depending on requirements of HSE staff, changes to cost of access to journals etc On subscriptions, HSE’s Divisions will organise access to specialist journals depending on need. Examples include: a. British Medical Journal b. Ergonomics in Design c. Flight International d. Human Factors e. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics f. Journal of Pyrotechnics g. New Scientist h. Science in Parliament i. Business Green j. Future Farming k. MIT Technology Review l. The Economist Additionally, HSE has access to Elsevier’s Government edition of ScienceDirect which provides users access to over 2,000 online journals and e-chapters.   HSE staff can also request articles and full journals from the British Library interlibrary loans service and utilise a commercial provider “Reprints Desk” for articles that are urgently required. When required HSE can also purchase articles directly from publishers.As part of the above arrangements, HSE has been able to access all published material that it has needed to deliver the programme of work on UK REACH

Council Housing: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to work with local authorities to ensure that residents in council accommodation are supported during periods of cold weather in Romford constituency.

Paul Maynard: The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. For people who require additional support in England, the current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024. This allows local authorities to continue to provide discretionary support to those struggling to afford the cost of essentials including energy bills and wider related essentials. The Household Support Fund is an intentionally flexible scheme designed to enable Local Authorities to respond to local need within the overall framework set by Department for Work and Pensions, since they can use their ties and knowledge to best determine how this support should be provided to local communities. The current scheme is the largest ever, worth £842 million across the current financial year. Of this, the allocation for Havering from April 2023 to March 2024 is £3,296,302, bringing their total allocation since October 2021 to £8,240,755. Cold Weather Payments are also available to help vulnerable people in receipt of certain income-related benefits in England and Wales to meet additional heating costs, during periods of unseasonably cold weather between 1 November and 31 March. Those eligible will automatically receive £25 when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days. 8.9 million pensioner households received a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top up to their Winter Fuel Payment from November 2023.  Increasing payments to £500 for households with someone aged 66-79 and £600 for households with someone aged 80 and over.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Q26 of the evidence given by Neil Couling to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 10 January 2024, HC 417, whether it is his policy that where a claim is subject to checking that claim is not suspended and there is no interruption to payments so long as the claimant cooperates with that process.

Paul Maynard: Where customers provide all evidence requested, within the timescales requested, to enable DWP to verify entitlement to benefit then no payment will be interrupted. If the evidence is not provided within the timescale or there is a high risk of fraud and/or error DWP’s Enhanced Review Team (ERT) may suspend payments to prevent further loss and the customer to build up possible debt.

Employment and Unemployment

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) aged 16 to 64 who were economically inactive between February and April 2010, (b) aged 16 to 24 who were employed between February and April 2010 and (c) aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed between February and April 2010.

Jo Churchill: The 16-64 UK economic inactivity level was 9.5 million between February and April 2010. The 16-24 employment level was 3.7 million between February and April 2010 and the 16-24 unemployment level was 0.9 million. Employment and unemployment data is published and available at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/summaryoflabourmarketstatistics

Department for Work and Pensions: Equality

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has conducted an equality impact assessment of the use of machine learning in benefit fraud investigations.

Paul Maynard: The Department has robust processes to ensure ethical use and impact of data is considered which includes Equality Impact Assessments for transformative initiatives that involve personal data, aligned with data-ethics frameworks, codes of practice, and working principles for analytical communities within the department that work with personal data. We do not use algorithms to make decisions regarding fraudulent claims, these are always made by humans. We will be providing further information in our 2023-24 Report and Accounts - committees.parliament.uk/publications/42012/documents/208912/default/

Fraud

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Fourth Report of the Public Accounts Committee of 2023–24 on The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23, HC 290, published on 16 November 2023, for what reason his Department assumes that fraud will rise by five per cent each year.

Paul Maynard: We do not forecast that fraud will rise by 5% per year. We forecast that fraudulent behaviour (or the propensity to commit fraud) will rise by 5% per year.

Poverty

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the UK's commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 1, what progress his Department has made on reducing the number of people living in poverty by more than half by 2030.

Jo Churchill: This Government has overseen significant falls in absolute poverty since 2009/10. There were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute low income after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10, a decrease of 4 percentage points. This decrease includes 400,000 fewer children (a decrease of 5 percentage points), 1 million fewer working age individuals (a decrease of 5 percentage points) and 200,000 fewer pensioners (a decrease of 2 percentage points). The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. This is reflected in the £276bn we will spend through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24, including around £124bn on people of working age and children, and reflecting an increase in benefit rates and State Pensions of 10.1% last April. From this April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by a further 6.7%, in line with inflation. The increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households.With over 900,000 job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting individuals to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the important role that work - particularly where it is full-time – can play in reducing the risks of poverty. The latest statistics show that, in 2021/22, working age adults living in workless families were 7 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than working age adults in families where all adults work. To help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues. To support those who are in work, the voluntary in-work progression offer is now available in all Jobcentres across Great Britain, providing an estimated 1.2 million low paid workers on UC access to personalised work coach support to help them increase their earnings. In addition, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 years and over by 9.8% to £11.44 representing an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW.

Department for Work and Pensions: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January to Question 8940, what accounts for the difference between the (a) number and (b) value of transactions of less than £500 reported in (i) that Answer and (ii) the equivalent figures for calendar year 2021 provided in the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 107067.

Paul Maynard: Pursuant to Answer of 17.01.24 to Question 8940, this was provided as physical card spend only as linked to Question 8701 which was received at the same time, whereas prior Question 107067 was provided as all eProcurement card spend, which includes Virtual cards (Lodged and Single Use) To provide all eProcurement card spend for the periods requested in Question 8940 (under £500 spend):  a) Total purchases 01/01/2022-31/12/2022 = 67,132 with a value of £6,916,350.32b) Total purchases 01/01/2023-31/10/2023 = 80,627 with a value of £ £8,706,120.92

Social Security Benefits: Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using Non-Fungible Tokens in the administration of benefits.

Paul Maynard: DWP has not made any assessment into the potential merits of using Non-Fungible Tokens in the administration of benefits.

Workplace Pensions: Women

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure that women who are (a) self-employed and (b) earn less than £10,000 per year have access to workplace pensions.

Paul Maynard: Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 87% in 2022. The government is committed to build on the success of AE and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers. Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career. The AE framework cannot be straightforwardly extended to people who are self-employed, as there is no employer to enrol them into a scheme; select a scheme or make contributions. The department is currently working with research partners to explore the feasibility of building and testing retirement savings solutions in digital platforms. This includes accountancy software and payment platforms, used by self-employed people to manage their money.

State Retirement Pensions: Fraud

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been convicted for offences relating to the fraudulent encashment of state pension payments which were for deceased recipients in each of the last five years.

Paul Maynard: The Department is unable to provide convictions data for State Pension fraud cases relating to deceased individuals. State Pension fraud and error is low, but it does exist, with £100m estimated to have been overpaid in State Pension in 2022/23.

Home Office

Bicycles: Theft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle bike thefts in (a) London and (b) Havering.

Chris Philp: The Crime Survey England and Wales latest findings shows bicycle theft is down 54% in year ending June 2023, compared with year ending March 2010.In 2020 the Government published Gear Change – a bold vision for cycling and walking. Theme 4 of Gear Change includes various initiatives to reduce cycle theft.Through National Cycle Crime Group, working with Department for Transport, Cycle Crime Reduction Partnerships have been set up across the country to coordinate regional enforcement activity to disrupt organised cycle theft and raise awareness of better security. Partnerships have been established in in Birmingham, Manchester, Scotland, Oxford, Cambridge, and Wales, with more currently being established in London.British Transport Police have also launched the ‘double lock it’ campaign with police forces and organisations, providing advice to owners to help better protect their bicycles. Further information on the campaign and bicycle locks can be found here: https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/campaigns/double-lock-it/.

Drugs: Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle the sale of unlicensed drugs online.

Chris Philp: Drugs ruin lives and devastate communities. The Government is committed to driving down drugs supply in the UK through tough law enforcement against the sale of drugs online, including on the dark web.We are clear that tech companies must take responsibility for embedding public safety in their system designs in order to prevent harmful material on their platforms. We expect tech companies to have robust processes in place to swiftly remove illegal content.Our Online Safety Act will introduce measures requiring platforms to remove content relating to the sale of drugs online. This ground-breaking piece of legislation will compel tech companies to consider the risks associated with all elements of their services and take action to keep users safe. This means that tech companies must proactively tackle this type of content from their platforms and prevent users from being exposed to it. If they fail to comply, they risk stiff financial penalties or in the most serious cases, having their sites blocked by the independent regulator, Ofcom. The Online Safety Act delivers the government’s manifesto commitment to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. The Act is a vital piece of legislation, designed to ensure that tech companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users, particularly children.We work closely with the National Crime Agency, which in partnership with policing colleagues across the UK and internationally is mapping and targeting key offenders operating online, including the dark net markets. Dedicated teams use a range of tools and techniques generally unavailable to most investigators and we make sure they have the resources and powers they need to keep our country safe.Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as selling drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.We recognise that gangs are increasingly using social media to sell drugs and exploit vulnerable people to help move their illicit commodities. Through the County Lines Programme, we are developing a better understanding of how these platforms are being used and how to disrupt them.

Gambling and Theft: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle (a) pickpocketing and (b) illegal street gambling in London.

Chris Philp: We are ensuring police forces have sufficient resources to respond to the challenges they face, delivering on our manifesto commitment to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers by March 2023. As a result of the Government’s Police Uplift Programme, as at 31 March 2023, the Metropolitan Police had a headcount of 35,411 officers, higher than the pre-PUP peak of 33,820 in March 2010.However, decisions on how resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience. This will include activity such as Operation London Bridge, which involved the Metropolitan Police working in partnership with others to tackle the issue of illegal gambling, and crimes such as pickpocketing which can occur when people stop to watch, on Westminster Bridge.Moreover, the public rightly expects police to respond when these crimes occur, working with partners across the justice system to see more criminals charged and prosecuted. We therefore welcome the police commitment to pursue all ‘reasonable lines of enquiry’ where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime. This commitment, announced on 28 August, has been worked up and agreed by the Home Office, in tandem with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing.

Police: Hampshire

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to increase the allocation of funding for the police in Hampshire.

Chris Philp: In December 2023 the Government published the provisional Police Funding Settlement for 2024-25 which proposed a total police funding settlement of up to £18.4 billion in 2024-25, an increase of up to £842.9 million compared to 2023-24.Hampshire Police will receive funding of up to £464.2 million of funding in 2024-25, an increase of £29.2 million compared to 2023-24.

Community Protection Notices

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2024 to Question 8727 on Community Protection Notices, what information does his Department hold on the use of Community Protection Warnings by (a) the police, (b) local authorities and (c) other local agencies.

Chris Philp: The Home office does not routinely collect information on Community Protection Notices used by police, local authorities or other local agencies but research into ASB powers covers a section on Community Protection Notices and warnings in terms of use, effectiveness, any challenges of use and potential solutions.This has been published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-perceptions-of-powers-within-the-anti-social-behaviour-crime-and-policing-act-2014/police-perceptions-of-powers-within-the-anti-social-behaviour-crime-and-policing-act-2014.

Home Office: Video Equipment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January to Question 8390 on Home Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, what the cost to the public purse was of expenditure by his Department's Communications Directorate from 1 January 2022 to 17 January 2024 on (a) the (i) purchase and (ii) hire of small drones used for the production of video content and (b) training in the use of drone filming equipment.

Chris Philp: There has been no spend on the purchase or hire of drone equipment.The only outlay has been for a training course, at the cost of £749.50 as referenced in PQ 8390.

Forensic Science: Laboratories

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the Government has made on establishing a National Crime Laboratory.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding the Government allocated to establishing a National Crime Laboratory in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Chris Philp: We are working with academia and policing to run a pilot for the National Crime & Justice Laboratory, and develop the roadmap for future years, which will bring together data held by the police and other government departments. This will aid Policing and the Home Office in answering critical questions to influence and inform better policy and help us improve Criminal Justice outcomes.The National Crime and Justice Lab received £1.15m in 2022/23 and £2m in 2023/24.

Refugees: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government policies on housing stability for refugees.

Tom Pursglove: A number of policies and mitigations are in place for those refugees who are destitute and require housing support. Individuals who are granted asylum remain on asylum support for 28 days from when they receive their Biometric Residence Permit. This enables individuals to make the necessary arrangements for their onward support and accommodation. We also have our contractor, Migrant Help, available to provide advice and support to help them access the labour market and housing support. Our accommodation providers also notify local authorities before an individual departs asylum accommodation, to ensure any emergency housing can be put in place for those with priority need. We are working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure the process for individuals moving on is clear. Furthermore, we have a number of integration measures in place, which refugees may be able to access.

Stem Cells: Donors

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has visa arrangements in place to permit registered stem cell donors entry to the UK for the purpose of donating.

Tom Pursglove: The Visitor route allows individuals to come to the UK to donate an organ to an identified recipient in the UK with whom they have a genuine or close personal relationship. They can also come to the UK to be assessed as a potential organ donor for an identified recipient in the UK with whom they have a genuine or close personal relationship.Visitors are not permitted to donate organs (or stem cells) to an anonymous donor, other than as part of a paired or pooled donation.

Draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish his Department's timescales for the public consultation on the sections of the Draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill that relate to the proposed standard tier.

Tom Tugendhat: The Government intends to launch a public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill’s Standard Tier. Premises that fall within the Standard Tier are smaller, with a capacity of 100 to 799 e.g. many retail stores, bars, restaurants, theatres and village halls.The Government is launching this consultation to ensure the Bill strikes the right balance between protecting the public and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises. The consultation will also provide those impacted by the Bill with an opportunity to offer in-depth views on the Standard Tier.We intend to launch the consultation shortly and it will be live for 6 weeks. I will write to the Honourable Member and Parliament once the consultation is live.

Asylum: Hotels

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels used to provide housing for asylum seekers on 1 January 2024 were contracted out to Serco.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hotels used to provide housing for asylum seekers on 1 January 2024 were contracted out to Mears Group.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on asylum seekers in receipt of support in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. This data shows how many asylum seekers are accommodated in hotels, broken down by region, and can be found in table Asy_D09 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data is not broken down to show how many hotels have been contracted to specific providers as we cannot comment on commercial arrangements which are confidential.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Ministerial correction of 10 January 2024 to Question 6124 on Members: Correspondence, when the Security Minister plans to reply to the letters of 3 October and 6 November 2023 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent regarding Minister Kitutu's visit.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office will respond to the Hon Member’s correspondence in due course.

Counter-terrorism: Higher Education

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the statutory guidance entitled Prevent duty guidance: for higher education institutions in England and Wales (2015), updated on 31 December 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that guidance on (a) academic research, (b) the number of students applying to higher education institutions, (c) students’ experience in higher education, (d) freedom of speech and (e) people with protected characteristics.

Tom Tugendhat: The updated and refreshed guidance places no additional burdens on the education sector. There are no new requirements as a result of the refresh or additional responsibilities for the sector. The guidance reinforces that settings should understand their Prevent duty requirements as part of their wider safeguarding and welfare responsibilities.The Prevent duty should not limit academic research but encourage debate, challenge ideas and advance knowledge on contentious topics. The government has legislated to ensure that universities in England are a place where academics, students and visiting speakers can express a diverse range of views without fear of repercussion.In the most recent published assessment by the Office for Students (OfS) on the implementation of the Prevent programme in the English higher education sector in 2019, they found no cause for concern that free speech was being undermined by Prevent in external speakers’ policies and their implementation. The assessment is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/prevent-review-meetings-programme-findings/.Institutions should encourage students to respect other people with particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 Institutions should also be mindful of their commitments to protecting freedom of speech, provided that the speech is lawful.A full Equality Impact Assessment was undertaken in line with responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty. The Home Office commissioned an independent research agency to conduct in-depth research with frontline staff, particularly those with Prevent-specific responsibilities, across the key sectors of education, healthcare, local authorities, police and prisons & probation, to make sure that the new guidance is as robust as possible. This consultation covered England and Wales.

Defending Democracy Taskforce

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which civil society organisations the Defending Democracy Taskforce has held recent discussions.

Tom Tugendhat: The Defending Democracy Taskforce is an enduring government function which seeks to protect the democratic integrity of the UK by reducing the threat of foreign interference.Meetings of the Taskforce are complemented by private engagement with partners outside central government and Parliament, including civil society, on subjects relevant to the work of the Taskforce. There are no current plans to publish information relating to the stakeholder engagement conducted by the Taskforce.

Refugees: Homelessness

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 6818 on Refugees: homelessness, what support his Department is providing to local authorities to reduce the risk of homelessness for new refugees.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the potential availability of housing for refugees who have reached the end of their move-on period.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with local authorities on the notice period given by accommodation providers when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.

Tom Pursglove: There are no plans to extend the move on period beyond the 28-day period set out in legislation. All individuals who are granted leave should currently be receiving a minimum of 28 days on asylum support after they have been issued a Biometric Residence Permit.We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them. Additionally, we are working with our Strategic Migration Partnerships to facilitate regional sessions with councils and to share data.Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.We continue to work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures.

Terrorism: Victims

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If he will introduce a National Day of Service and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office has conducted an internal review into the support package provided to victims of terrorism.The scope of the review covered how the government considers victims of terrorism, what gaps there are in the current support offer and whether communication of the support available is right.The review recognises that memorialisation and recognition are an important factor in victims’ recovery and has considered how victims could be commemorated in the future.We will seek to update on next steps in due course.

Biometric Residence Permits: Applications

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 9201 on Biometric Residence Permits, how many and what proportion of applicants have been waiting more than 28 days following a decision for a biometric residence permit production request.

Tom Pursglove: At the point a decision is made to grant permission to remain, a BRP is automatically requested by the caseworking system and data is sent to DVLA for the BRP to be produced. Any automatic requests that become “stuck” when sent to DVLA are targeted and proactive reporting is being developed to identify such cases earlier. During 2023 DVLA produced 99.6% of BRPs within 24 hours of this automatic request process and 100% within 48 hours.

Visas: Ukraine

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to extend visas issued under the Ukraine Extension Scheme beyond the initial three-year period.

Tom Pursglove: We are mindful that permission will start to expire, for the first arrivals under our Ukrainian schemes, from March 2025, and their need for certainty beyond that point to help them to plan ahead, for example if remaining in the UK, entering into rental agreements and living here independently.  As a result, we actively keep the Ukraine schemes under consistent review.The UK Government stands with Ukraine and firmly believes that Ukraine will be safe again. When it’s safe to do so, Ukraine will need the repatriation of its citizens to help recover and rebuild their economy and infrastructure.

Asylum: Homelessness

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of notices given to asylum seekers to leave accommodation provided by his Department on trends in the level of demand for local government homelessness services.

Tom Pursglove: We work closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.We are working with our partners, including local authorities, to provide timely notification of key events that impact them. We are working with our Strategic Migration Partnerships to facilitate regional sessions with councils and to share data.

Intelligence Services and Police: Recruitment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that recruitment to (a) police and (b) security services are promoted positively; and what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on an effective approach to this issue.

Tom Tugendhat: The Government fully supports the excellent work that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) undertakes to keep people in Northern Ireland safe.The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland retains responsibility for national security in Northern Ireland, therefore he and his officials are in regular contact with the Chief Constable of the PSNI, regarding a variety of matters. However, as justice and policing are areas of devolved responsibility, it is necessary that oversight and decisions on PSNI recruitment are carried out by locally-elected politicians.Across England and Wales, the Government delivered a successful campaign to recruit 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023. This was facilitated by a national recruitment campaign based on research and insights, showing that people are attracted to a career in policing by the variety of the role, and the ability to help local communities. The campaign was also supported by the creation of the Join the Police website, which promotes policing careers and provides a source of helpful information for candidates. This website remains available to anyone interested in joining the police.It is the policy of successive UK governments not to comment on matters of intelligence and national security. This includes recruitment to the intelligence agencies.

Organised Crime

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to footnote 2, page 9 of the publication entitled No Place to Hide: Serious and Organised Crime Strategy 2023-2028, if his Department will publish the reasoning for using inflation as the sole factor of methodology in updating the cost of Serious and Organised Crime in the UK from £37 billion to £47 billion per year.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office will update the figure in 2024 once data for financial year 2022/23 is available across all the SOC crime areas.

Asylum

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Legacy backlog cleared as plan to stop the boats delivers, published on 2 January 2024, how many of the 112,000 were granted permanent right to remain in the UK.

Michael Tomlinson: The Home Office published data on initial decisions made on asylum cases on 2 January 2024 as part of the Statistics relating to Illegal Migration ad-hoc release. The Additional statistics relating to Illegal Migration (December 2023) release notes that “Of the 112,138 initial asylum decisions [between 1 January and 28 December 2023], 77,019 were substantive decisions Please note that this data is provisional in table Asy_D02 of the Asylum, Applications, Decisions and Resettlement detailed datasets as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release.

Asylum: Rwanda

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the grounds for appeal were of each of the asylum seekers due to be removed to Rwanda on 14 June 2022.

Michael Tomlinson: We are unable to comment on the specifics of individual cases however, some of the individuals referred to did issue judicial review claims and the grounds of these claims can be found in the published court judgments. The court judgments can be found at the following links:Divisional Court (19 December 2022): AAA v SSHD Rwanda judgment.pdf (judiciary.uk)Court of Appeal (29 June 2023): AAA-v-SSHD summary (judiciary.uk)Supreme Court (15 November 2023): R (on the application of AAA (Syria) and others) (Respondents/Cross Appellants) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant/Cross Respondent); (supremecourt.uk)

Refugees: Homelessness

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an estimate of the number of new refugees who become homeless after leaving asylum accommodation.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office does not hold the information requested.All individuals who receive a positive decision on their asylum claim are eligible to receive support and accommodation for at least 28 days from when their decision is served.We offer move on support through Migrant Help or their partner organisation to assist all newly granted refugees to integrate into society and to mitigate the risk of homelessness. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Almshouses: Right to Buy Scheme

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to prevent almshouses from being sold under right to buy; and if he will take steps to help ensure that their status will be protected.

Lee Rowley: Almshouse accommodation is not eligible for the Right to Buy.

Local Government: Accountancy

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authority accounts (a) were submitted on time and (b) remained outstanding after (i) 6, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months in each year from 2010 to 2024.

Simon Hoare: Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd was created in 2014, and collects data on the proportion of local authority account audit opinions issued by the deadline each year.This information is publicly available for example, 2014-15 to 2019-20 statistics are available at the following link; 2020-21 to 2021-22 statistics at the following link; and 2022-23 statistics at the following link.

Infrastructure: Planning Permission

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the average length of time is for a successful nationally significant infrastructure project planning application to be granted approval.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Honourable member to the NSIP Action Plan.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department last met the architect named as leading the design team for the new national landmark next to the Houses of Parliament in the press notice issued by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation and the Cabinet Office published on 24 October 2017.

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department last met the architect named as leading the design team for the new national landmark next to the Houses of Parliament in the press notice issued by the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation and the Cabinet Office published on 24 October 2017.

Simon Hoare: There have been no officials meetings with ministers from this department. Officials last met on 21 February 2023.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish the redacted Holocaust Memorial material subject to the freedom of information request by Dorian Gerhold in December 2018.

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) publish a list of the freedom of information requests relating to the proposed Holocaust Memorial and associated learning centre that (i) his Department has not yet responded to and (ii) are waiting for adjudication by the Information Commissioner and (b) order his Department to release all the information requested.

Simon Hoare: No Freedom of Information requests relating to the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre are awaiting a response from the Department. A letter from the Information Commissioner about the Department’s handling of a previous request was received on 18 January 2024 and will receive a response shortly.A great deal of information about the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been published as part of the planning application. When Freedom of Information requests have sought information which falls within statutory exemptions, careful consideration is given and the appropriate public interest tests are applied. Some material requested by Doran Gerhold in December 2018 was withheld on this basis: the Information Commissioner and the First Tier Tribunal have each, twice, upheld the Department’s approach.

Local Government: Staff

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the size of the local government workforce in each year from 2010 to 2024.

Simon Hoare: The Office for National publishes workforce data at the following link.

Islamophobia

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to develop a definition of anti-Muslim hatred.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what definition of anti-Muslim hatred his Department uses.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department is making on tackling Islamophobia.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which (a) individuals and (b) organisations his Department is consulting on religious hatred.

Lee Rowley: Anti-Muslim hatred is abhorrent and has no place in our society. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their religion or belief and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it. We have funded Tell MAMA, a service that supports victims of anti-Muslim hatred, with over £6 million since their inception in 2012.In light of the rise in anti-Muslim hate incidents being reported, the Government has increased Tell MAMA’s funding to £1 million this year. This funding will provide additional resource to the service they are providing to support victims of anti-Muslim hatred.The department has given careful consideration to the use of language and definitions. The definition of Islamophobia as proposed by the APPG is not in line with the Equality Act 2010, which defines race in terms of colour, nationality and national or ethnic origins. The term anti-Muslim hatred is a more precise term which better reflects UK hate crime legislation.The department is seeking the views and perspectives of domestic and international leaders and experts in this field to explore how religious hatred is experienced by British communities.

Floods: Rotherham

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9220 on Floods: Rotherham, how much funding has been allocated to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council via the Flood Recovery Framework since Storm Babet.

Simon Hoare: The Flood Recovery Framework does not work on pre – determined allocations. Eligible local authorities are responsible for distributing flood recovery funding to affected households and businesses and the Government re-imburses those local authorities retrospectively, based on the certified costs of the eligible grants that they have provided.

Local Government: Audit

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on clearing the backlog of local audits in England since the 2015-16 financial year.

Simon Hoare: The Department working with system partners has developed proposals to tackle the exceptional circumstance of the current backlog and ensure a return to timely delivery of high-quality financial reporting and external audit in local bodies.This has been detailed work, balancing various imperatives across the system. Having thoroughly tested the options, I recently wrote to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee and confirmed that the Department, supported by the Financial Reporting Council, and alongside the National Audit Office, will launch consultations on these proposals in the coming weeks. The solution on the table has the agreement of all system partners and is the best proposal to clear the backlog and over time, return to high quality assurance.Our proposals will include an initial statutory backstop date of 30 September 2024 for local authorities and auditors to publish their audited financial accounts for all outstanding local audits in England up to and including the financial year 2022-23. While these consultations take place, preparers and auditors should continue undertaking existing work to produce and audit local authority financial statements to ensure the system is in the best place possible to implement any final package of measures.

Local Government Finance

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps the Government has taken to help (a) address funding shortfalls in local council budgets and (b) prevent local councils declaring bankruptcy.

Simon Hoare: The provisional local government finance settlement for 2024-25 makes available over £64 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of almost £4 billion or 6.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This above-inflation increase demonstrates how the Government stands behind councils up and down the country.Through the provisional settlement we set out proposals to continue to support all councils by providing a sector-wide Funding Guarantee, ensuring all local authorities see a minimum 3% increase in Core Spending Power before local council tax decisions.We launched a consultation on the proposals for 2024-25 through the provisional settlement, which closed on 15 January 2024. After the consultation responses are considered and any alterations are made, we will publish a final settlement early this year which will be subject to a debate in the House of Commons.

Elections and Land: Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the administration of (a) general elections, (b) local elections and (c) land registration.

Simon Hoare: No such assessment has been made of the potential merits of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Planning: Water Companies

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to consult on making water companies statutory consultees on certain planning applications.

Lee Rowley: The Government committed during the passage of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 to consult on whether water companies should become statutory consultees on certain planning applications, and if so, how best to do this. The Secretary of State has since commissioned Sam Richards, to undertake an independent review of statutory consultees within the planning system, with the recommendations from this to be published in March 2024.We remain committed to this consultation; which will be published later this year. Water companies must continue to engage local planning authorities on their applications at the right time so they can input effectively and not slow down the application process.

Public Buildings: Floods

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number (a) police stations, (b) fire stations, (c) hospitals, (d) ambulance stations, (e) residential care homes, (f) children’s homes and (g) social services homes that have a flood risk vulnerability classification of "Highly Vulnerable".

Lee Rowley: Uses that are classified as ‘highly vulnerable’ are set out in annex 3 of the National Planning Policy Framework and includes police, fire and ambulance stations. Hospitals and residential institutions are classified as ‘more vulnerable’ in the Framework.

First Time Buyers

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve the (a) affordability and (b) availability of housing for first-time buyers.

Lee Rowley: We have introduced a number of interventions that aim to increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, increase the availability of new housing, and stimulate economic growth. These include First Homes, the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, Shared Ownership and Right to Buy. We have also reduced stamp duty and raised the thresholds for First-Time Buyers’ Relief. We also run the Lifetime ISA scheme to help young first time buyers save for their first home.We have helped over 873,000 households to purchase a home through home ownership schemes including Help to Buy, Right to Buy and Shared Ownership since 2010, and first-time buyer numbers have been steadily improving over the last decade, with 2021 seeing the highest number for 20 years. Nonetheless, we recognise that the current economic climate remains challenging for first-time buyers. I and my Cabinet colleagues have ongoing discussions on these issues, and we keep all options under consideration.

Shared Ownership Schemes: South East

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has plans to increase access to shared ownership properties in the South East.

Lee Rowley: The Government’s 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme seeks to deliver thousands of new affordable homes for rent and to buy right across the country. This includes the delivery of new shared ownership homes in the South East. Since 2014-15, over 27,200 new shared ownership homes have been delivered in the South East.

Owner Occupation: Greater London

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the causes of low levels of home ownership amongst young people in London.

Lee Rowley: We do have evidence that provides a demographic picture of home ownership in England via the English Housing Survey. All data is published centrally on gov.uk at the following link.The Government is committed to extending ownership to a new generation.Home Ownership could have been extended across the whole country in the Autumn of last year if the Honourable lady's colleagues in the other place had not blocked the Government's nutrient neutrality proposals.

Housing: Construction

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the recommendations of the APPG on SME House Builders in its report on Access to Finance in the SME Housebuilding Sector, published in July 2023, if he will (a) encourage local authorities to grant permission in principle, (b) relax requirements for affordable housing, (c) target the Atlas planning squad at small sites and (d) take other steps to bring forward more small sites for housebuilding.

Lee Rowley: The National Planning Policy Framework includes policies to promote greater use of small sites. In our update to the Framework, published in December 2023, we strengthened our existing small sites policies to encourage local authorities to seek opportunities to support small sites to come forward for community-led housing and self-build and custom build housing. Our policy changes also encourage permission in principle alongside other routes to permission, to remove barriers for smaller and medium-sized builders in the planning system. We intend to undertake a further consultation on specific proposals to strengthen our small sites planning policy in due course.The Framework is clear that local plans should set out the affordable housing contributions expected from development. Such policies should be informed by evidence of affordable housing need, and a proportionate assessment of viability. The Framework states that provision of affordable housing should not be sought for residential developments that are not major developments, other than in designated rural areas.We have announced £13.5 million for a Planning Super Squad that will deploy teams of specialists into local planning authorities to accelerate the delivery of homes and development. Further details on the Planning Super Squad will follow in due course.

Housing: Construction

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of new homes that were completed by small and medium-sized housebuilders in each year since 1997.

Lee Rowley: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN on 9065 on 17 January 2024.

Housing: Construction

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise the development of (a) GP surgeries and (b) other infrastructure in new housing developments.

Lee Rowley: The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act introduces powers to create the new Infrastructure Levy to reform the existing developer contributions system in England. The mandatory, non-negotiable Levy aims to generate more funding for infrastructure, such as GP surgeries, to mitigate the impacts of new development.

Future High Streets Fund

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Future High Streets Fund will be extended to smaller high streets.

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department is providing to local authorities on the distribution of funding for high streets.

Jacob Young: There is a range of support options available to encourage regeneration of high streets and we advise local authorities on how to make the best use of these. This support includes provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) which give local authorities new powers to force landlords to rent out vacant units in high streets, as well as the High Street Accelerator pilot programme and the Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns to drive ambitious plans for regeneration.Long-term investment also includes £2.35 billion of Town Deals and over £830 million of Future High Streets Funding across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England.

Disadvantaged

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory duty for combined authorities to form working groups on tackling disadvantage.

Jacob Young: Combined Authorities are already doing positive work to tackle all forms of disadvantage in their areas. The Government is committed to empowering local leadership of local issues and is not looking to enforce particular internal ways of working.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Middle East: Honours

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Accepting foreign awards: UK rules, last updated on 24 November 2021, on how many occasions permission was (a) sought, (b) granted and (c) denied in respect of foreign awards being conferred to members of the Government by (i) Saudi Arabia, (ii) the United Arab Emirates, (iii) Qatar, (iv) Bahrain, (v) Kuwait and (vi) Oman between 2014 and 2024.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, on how many occasions (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) the United Arab Emirates, (c) Qatar, (d) Bahrain, (e) Kuwait and (f) Oman gave awards to members of the Government (i) without seeking permission from the Government and (ii) regardless of permission being denied between 2014 and 2024.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Honours Secretariat has a record of one request to confer an award on a member of Her Majesty's Government from these six countries. In 2017, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia advised that they wished to confer an award on a member of the Government. Due diligence was carried out before the award was accepted. There are no records of any awards conferred without permission.

Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We recognise that there is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza, and our focus now must be on practical solutions that save lives. The Foreign Secretary continues to discuss and press for the action that needs to be taken to increase aid to Gaza in his regular calls with his Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, US and Palestinian Authority counterparts; Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity. The UK also played a leading role in securing the passage of Security Council resolution 2720, which set out the urgent demand for expanded humanitarian access.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps the Government has taken to help improve access to healthcare for older people in the Global South.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is committed to championing universal health coverage (UHC) - for the young and the old. We worked with other countries to ensure that the 2023 UN Political Declaration on UHC reaffirmed the 2019 commitment to promote healthy and active ageing and to respond to the needs of ageing populations. We also went further, recognising the importance of providing sustainable home and community care services for older people. We continue to work with country and global partners including the World Health Organization on integrated and equitable approaches to strengthening health systems and achieving UHC for all.

Nigeria: Christianity

Ian Paisley: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Nigerian counterpart on the attacks on Christians in Plateau State on 24 December 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Rising insecurity in Nigeria has affected all faith and non-faith communities, including Christians. UK Government officials and I regularly raise freedom of religion or belief, including the impact of insecurity on communities and the need to bring perpetrators to justice, with the Nigerian Government. The British High Commissioner has raised the recent attacks in Plateau with the Nigerian National Security Adviser. The High Commissioner and his team continue to work closely with the respective authorities to raise and address these issues through multiple forums.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Public Expenditure

Derek Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when his Department plans to publish details of all departmental spending over £25,000 since May 2022.

David Rutley: Our target is to resume reporting of both Government Procurement Cards (GPC) and over £25,000 spend in Spring 2024.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in countries most affected by climate change on the adequacy of measures agreed at COP28; and what steps he plans to take to engage with those countries in future.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO ministerial team have and will continue to engage with counterparts in countries on the front line of climate change. The deal agreed at COP28 is a key moment in global efforts to get to net zero by 2050 and is the first time there has been a global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. But the frequency, severity and costs of the impacts from climate change and nature loss are increasing, and it is the poorest and most vulnerable that suffer the most and disproportionately. That is why the UK announced £100 million at COP28 to support some of the most climate-vulnerable countries, which contributes towards the £1.6 billion announced by the Prime Minister at COP28.

Nigeria: Christianity

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to help tackle anti-Christian violence in Nigeria in the Christmas 2023 period.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Rising insecurity has undermined freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria and affected all faith and non-faith communities, including Christians. It is crucial that the fundamental driving factors are addressed. The British High Commissioner raised the recent attacks in Plateau with the Nigerian National Security Adviser, and the UK works closely with the respective authorities to raise and address these issues through multiple forums. The UK Government's 'Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria' (SPRiNG) programme will help tackle the interlinked root causes of intercommunal conflict, including security, justice, and natural resource management challenges.

Guyana: Politics and Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and Overseas Territories' visit to Guyana in December 2023; and what recent steps his Department has taken to support Guyana in maintaining its territorial integrity.

David Rutley: I [Minister Rutley] visited Guyana on 18 December. I met with President Ali, Foreign Secretary Todd, National Security Advisor Captain Gerry Gouveia, Defence Force Chief of Staff Brigadier Omar Khan and the The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett to show UK support for Guyana's territorial integrity. President Ali strongly welcomed this visit and our ongoing support.HMS Trent also visited on 29/30 December as a further signal of the UK's support for Guyana's sovereign borders. The UK welcomes the Argyle Declaration signed by Venezuela and Guyana in St Vincent and the Grenadines on 14 December, that makes clear Venezuela is to refrain from the use of force and any further escalation. We continue to work with our partners in the region and internationally to de-escalate tensions and ensure respect for Guyana's sovereignty.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

David Rutley: Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) the FCDO is required to pay due regard to the need to: eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities. Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are one of the tools used to assess whether a new policy or change to existing policy is likely to have a disproportionate impact on those with protected characteristics as defined in the 2010 Equality Act. The FCDO does not centrally monitor how many EIAs are completed, therefore no information is held on this question.

Embassies: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2023 to Question 4652 on Embassies: Flags, if he will make it his policy to require UK (a) embassies and (b) consulates to illuminate the Union Flag at night.

David Rutley: Flags at our Missions overseas are normally flown during opening hours. Where flags are flown overnight, Heads of Mission have discretion on whether they are illuminated taking into account local circumstances, which may prevent them from doing so.

Denmark: Blasphemy

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of changes to the law of blasphemy in Denmark.

Leo Docherty: Denmark has no law against blasphemy. On 7 December, the Danish Parliament passed a law banning the inappropriate treatment of religious texts. We have condemned recent incidents of Quran burning in Europe and we unequivocally denounce hatred and incitement of violence on the basis of religion or belief. Our position remains unchanged: we are committed to both freedom of expression and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and will continue to promote mutual respect between different communities.

India: Religious Buildings

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with the Government of India on steps it is taking in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in December 2023 relating to proposals for the restoration of places of worship that have been affected by the violence in Manipur.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2023 to Question 9028 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, can he provide a full list of the UK aid supplies for Gaza that have been refused entry by the Israeli authorities since 7 October 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Alan Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8039 Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, how much and what proportion of UK aid destined for Gaza has been (a) shipped to Egypt and (b) held by the Egyptian Red Crescent Society as of 17 January 2024.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Development Aid: Climate Change and Poverty

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to UK International Development's white paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, published in November 2023, if his Department will publish a plan to deliver the policy commitments in that white paper.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: International development in a contested world, the International Development White Paper, sets out our strategic goal, to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the UK can accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, through to 2030. The FCDO will set out how it is delivering the White Paper through existing departmental planning processes, including the Outcome Delivery Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts.

Development Aid

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure maximum value for money in overseas development assistance spending decisions.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO employs robust systems and frameworks to ensure we achieve value for money for UK taxpayers. The suitability of organisations receiving ODA, including the projects undertaken, is assessed through FCDO business cases and annual reviews, as set out in the Department's Programme Operating Framework. The Department uses evidence to inform spending decisions and maximise the impact of the UK's ODA. FCDO officials are empowered to adjust programming using our approach to prioritisation set out in the White Paper on International Development.The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) independently scrutinises UK ODA to assess value for money and impact [https://icai.independent.gov.uk/].

Tanzania: Landslips

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has received reports on the loss of life as a result of the recent mine landslide in Tanzania; and whether his Department is taking steps to support the Government of Tanzania with its response to the landslide.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: On 15 January the British High Commissioner expressed condolences on behalf of the UK following the tragic loss of 22 lives at the Ng'alita mine. The UK has not been asked to provide support on this occasion but has previously supported relief efforts in similar situations through the multi-donor pooled Start Network. UK contributions to the Start Network have assisted Tanzania in addressing challenges caused by flooding, with relief in the areas of sanitation and hygiene, child protection, mental health and psychosocial support, and the provision of health and food items.

Republic of Congo: Floods

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is taking steps to provide humanitarian in response to recent flooding in Congo-Brazzaville.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is concerned about the higher than average rainfall and subsequent flooding and landslides along the Congo River Basin, which has had an impact on infrastructure particularly schools, health centres and farmland and created an increased risk of water-born illnesses and malaria. We are saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by floods and landslides in the region, including in Congo-Brazzaville. The UK is currently working with counterparts to identify how we may best support their response - with a particular focus on reducing the spread of water borne diseases.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Staff

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help tackle and (b) vet HM Prison staff to ensure compliance with rules on the smuggling of contraband into prisons; and whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on a UK-wide approach to this issue.

Edward Argar: The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. All HMPPS prison staff are subject to pre-employment vetting checks, including social and digital media vetting checks, to assess whether candidates meet the high standards expected of them to work in HMPPS and assures a standard of resilience upon entry. This vetting is renewed every 10 years. HMPPS is undertaking a Vetting Reform Programme and applying the recommendations from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Police, Fire & Rescue Services report of 2022: “An Inspection of Vetting, Misconduct and Misogyny in the Police Service” to prisons and probation. The Department has not held discussions with devolved administrations about vetting but will consider the merits of doing so to ensure processes remain modern and robust across the UK. We committed to having a zero-tolerance approach to crime in prisons. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including the smuggling of contraband, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered airport-style enhanced gate security to 42 high-risk sites, implementing routine searching of staff. We have since gone further and installed X-ray baggage scanners at 49 sites and invested into new drug trace detection equipment across the estate.

Pets: Fraud

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases relating to the (a) mis-selling and (b) fraudulent advertising of pets took place in small claims courts in each year since 2018.

Mike Freer: The information requested by the could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. HMCTS does not record the reason for bringing a small claim, this information is contained within the ‘particulars of claim’ and therefore obtaining this information would require a manual review of all small claims files.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Standards

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5765 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Standards, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that (a) HMCTS personnel are aware that complaints and feedback can be provided in person at HMCTS premises, (b) a remedy is provided to people who have been misinformed of this right by officials, and (c) HMCTS personnel facilitate in person complains and feedback at HMCTS premises.

Mike Freer: HMCTS personnel follow the complaints procedure which is published on Gov.UK: Complaints procedure - HM Courts & Tribunals Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Complaints and feedback can be provided in person at HMCTS premises. Where a user of HMCTS services is not satisfied, they can speak to a member of staff and a record will be made on HMCTS complaints handling system OPTIC. HMCTS will not be able to identify people who have been misinformed of the option to raise a complaint in person. However, if it is clear when handling complaints or feedback that someone has been refused the opportunity to provide it in person, without a valid reason, they will be given an apology. Where possible HMCTS personnel will take down in person complaints and feedback at HMCTS premises – which will then be followed by a response in writing. There will be some instances where it’s not possible to take feedback in person. This is where officials believe that the person giving the feedback is a risk to staff or other court users, is being deliberately disruptive or is using the opportunity to revisit complaints that have already been answered through the administrative complaints process. In those instances, other communication channels will still be open to them to use.

Courts: Standards

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce court backlogs.

Mike Freer: We have taken your question to mean what steps are being taken to tackle the outstanding caseload across all jurisdictions. At the Crown Court, we remain committed to reducing the outstanding caseload at the Crown Court and have introduced a raft of measures to achieve this aim. We funded over 100,000 sitting days last financial year and plan to deliver the same again this financial year. Thanks to our investment in judicial recruitment, we expect to have recruited more than 1,000 judges by the end of this financial year. We are also investing more in our courts. In August 2023, we announced we are investing £220 million for essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings across the next two years, up to March 2025. In the Family Court, we are working closely with the President of the Family Division, the Department for Education, HMCTS and the cross-system Family Justice Board to drive forward a cross-cutting programme of work to address delays and inefficiencies in the system and to ensure cases are ready to be heard when they reach court. We are committed to meeting the 26-week statutory requirement for public law cases, and the Government is investing an extra £10m to develop new initiatives to support this. In addition, we remain committed to supporting more families to reach agreement on their children and finance arrangements earlier and without court involvement and are continuing delivery of the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme. As of December 2023, over 24,000 families have successfully used the scheme to attempt to resolve their disputes outside of court. We are investing up to £23.6m in the scheme, which we intend will allow for its continuation up to March 2025 With regards to civil cases, we are taking action to ensure those that do need to go to trial are dealt with quickly. We have launched the biggest ever judicial recruitment drive for District Judges, are digitising court processes and holding more remote hearings, and are increasing the use of mediation. We announced in July that we would introduce a requirement for small claims in the county court to attend a mediation session with the Small Claims Mediation Service, starting with specified money claims. This requirement will start in the spring and is expected to help parties resolve their dispute swiftly and consensually without the need for a judicial hearing. With regards to tribunals, we continue to work with the Department for Business and Trade on further measures to address caseloads in the Employment Tribunal, where the deployment of legal officers, recruitment of additional judges and a new electronic case management system have already contributed to the caseload falling and remaining below its pandemic peak. We are working on completing the programme of reform in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal and the judiciary have recently introduced a virtual region pilot to provide additional judicial capacity and flexibility in how appeals are heard and disposed of.

Ministry of Justice: Tribunals

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 11 January 2024 to Question 8379 on Ministry of Justice: Tribunals, whether the contingent liability of the judicial pension claim set out in the bottom row of the table in that Answer represents the costs of a single potential payment to one individual.

Mike Freer: The contingent liability of £6m was an estimate of the potential liability to 37 individuals.

Ministry of Justice: Communication

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2023 to Question 5745 on Ministry of Justice: Communication, if he will publish the (a) policies, (b) procedures and (c) service standards for (i) his Department, (ii) HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (iii) the Judicial Office; and if he will publish provide contact details for raising concerns over compliance with each.

Mike Freer: There are a number of polices, procedures and service standards for communication that are used across the Ministry of Justice and the agencies within it which can differ due to the broad range of work and activities undertaken across the department. Within HM Courts & Tribunals Service if any user wants to provide feedback or raise a complaint about the service HMCTS provides, there is a formal procedure in which to do so that is published on the HMCTS section on Gov.uk: Complaints procedure - HM Courts & Tribunals Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The complaints procedure is three staged and allows for a review and appeal if a user is not satisfied with the initial response received. There is also the option to ask the Member of Parliament for the user’s constituency to refer the case to the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman if the user remains unsatisfied following exhausting all stages of the HMCTS complaints process. Any matter relating to Judicial Office policies, procedures or service standards would be for that organisation and not for Government. The Judicial Office supports the judiciary of England and Wales and is independent from the machinery which supports Ministers. Its officials are accountable to the Lady Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals.

Human Trafficking: Prosecutions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted under human trafficking laws in each year since 2010.

Gareth Bacon: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under human trafficking laws, from 2010 to 2022, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, and from year ending June 2011 to the year ending June 2023, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023:Offences under sections 2(1), 4 and 30(1) and 30(3) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 can be found using following HO codes:03608 - Conspire to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation03610 - Commit offence other than kidnapping or false imprisonment with intent to commit human trafficking offence03611 - Commit offence of kidnapping or false imprisonment with intention of committing human trafficking offence03612 - Breach a slavery and trafficking risk or prevention order Offences under sections 57, 58, 59, 59A(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 & Offences under sections 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 can be found by using following offences:72 Human trafficking for sexual exploitation78.1 Human trafficking for non-sexual exploitationThese can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the HO Offence Code and Offence filters to select the above offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool.In 2015, the UK Government introduced the world-leading Modern Slavery Act, giving law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle trafficking, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims.Since the Modern Slavery Act was passed in 2015, we have seen significant law enforcement activity focused on modern slavery, which has led to an increase in the number of live police modern slavery investigations.This has also led to an increase in the number of prosecutions brought and convictions secured.Measures under the Nationality and Borders Act came into force in 2023 which have helped clarify our obligations to providing support for victims of modern slavery.

Prisons: Drugs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2024 to Question 7583 on Prisons: Drugs, how many random mandatory drug tests carried out between 2018 and 2023 were positive.

Edward Argar: Between April 2018 and March 2023, there were 25,323 positive rMDT tests for both traditional drugs and psychoactive substances. Data for April to December 2023 will be published as part of the 2023-24 Annual Digest.No new Official Statistics on rMDT positivity have been published since the year to March 2020, because since the start of the COVID pandemic testing levels and the number of prisons with sufficient testing have been too low to provide robust data.The range of drugs tested in the rMDT panel is subject to change in response to new emerging drug types and new patterns of drug use. This is necessary to ensure our testing approach is targeting the right substances. These limitations mean no robust rate of positive tests can be calculated from the above data and this number of positive tests should not be compared to the number of tests.Care is taken when processing and analysing returns, but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.This does not include tests that were spoilt or lost in transit on the way to the laboratory.

Prison Officers: Training

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training prison officers receive on violence against women and girls.

Edward Argar: All newly recruited prison officers receive a minimum of ten weeks training which provides them with the skills required to be a competent prison officer. MOJ Learning & Development for HMPPS also offer additional specialist training for the HMPPS Women’s Estate which has a further week’s training.Prison officers undertaking the specialist training within the Women’s Estate are trained on a variety of modules which include:- Trauma- Child protection and safeguarding- Safety support skills- Tackling violence against women and girlsAll prison officers are required to complete an eLearning package in child safeguarding awareness. There is also a further domestic abuse eLearning package available for all staff.Prison officers working in the Prison Offender Manager role are required to complete a child safeguarding, domestic abuse and adult safeguarding course.

Treasury

Revenue and Customs: Fujitsu

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which computer systems used by His Majesty's Revenue and Customs have been supplied by Fujitsu since 2000.

Nigel Huddleston: I understand that the honourable member has written in similar terms to Jim Harra (Permanent Secretary at HMRC) in her capacity as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and that Jim Harra will be responding in due course.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Peter Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco.

Gareth Davies: The Government has dedicated significant resource to tackling illicit tobacco, and has set out its approach to doing so in successive strategies dating back to 2000. These strategies have been highly effective in reducing the estimated duty gap for cigarettes from 16.9% in 2005 to 11% in 2021/22 and for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% to 33.5% over the same period. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) publishes annual data on seizures, criminal investigations and civil penalties related to tobacco. Between April 2021 and March 2022, HMRC and Border Force seized 1.35bn cigarettes and 212,949kg of hand-rolling tobacco. As set out in the October 2023 command paper, Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, the Government is increasing investment to enforcement agencies by £30 million per year from 2024/25 to 2028/29, boosting our abilities to tackle illegal activity. The paper also confirmed that HMRC and Border Force will publish an updated Illicit Tobacco Strategy, which sets out plans to address future challenges and opportunities that criminals seek to exploit. The strategy will be published in due course.

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Merger of current small or medium enterprise (SME) and Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) schemes, updated on 23 November 2023, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of the proposed merger on individual sectors.

Nigel Huddleston: R&D tax relief will continue to be available to all sectors following the merger of the small or medium enterprise (SME) and Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) schemes.The government will monitor the impact on claimants of R&D relief policy changes, including on sectors, through information collected from claims and claim notifications.HMRC publish annual statistics on the sectoral distribution of R&D tax credit claims https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure consistency in the processing of claims for (a) Research and Development Expenditure Credit and (b) research and development tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprise; and what training is received by HMRC staff working on such claims.

Nigel Huddleston: All R&D claims go through a risk screening process before the payment process. Where risks are identified, HMRC opens enquires into those claims following the HMRC Enquiry manual, a detailed guidance framework on conducting compliance checks.

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has issued recent guidance to tax accountants on (a) how and (b) whether activity can be classed as research and development for the purposes of claiming research and development tax reliefs.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC keeps all guidance under review and is committed to making improvements to its guidance working with a wide cross-section of businesses, industry groups, agents and accountancy professional bodies.In October 2023 HMRC published Guidelines for Compliance on R&D. This helps customers avoid common errors when claiming the R&D reliefs. They set out practical steps for customers to follow and examples provided help to identify projects where some or all of the activities may qualify for R&D tax reliefs. This publication was well-received by stakeholders.

Welfare Tax Credits

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2024 to Question 7905 on Welfare Tax Credits, for what reason the awards of tax credit are deemed provisional; and for what reason the information is published annually.

Nigel Huddleston: The provisional awards statistics for those receiving Child and Working Tax Credits relate to the caseload position at a snapshot point in time, based on the latest family circumstances HMRC have been informed of by each family prior to that point in time. It is only at finalisation (usually four to nine months after the end of the tax year) that the family’s circumstances for the whole year are known and a finalised award can be calculated. This means the statistics for provisional awards provide up to date numbers at the reference point in time but are subject to change following finalisation as described above. HMRC publishes accredited official statistics based on provisional awards data twice a year coinciding with the availability of that data for analytical purposes. The statistics are usually released in February (based on data from December of the previous year) and June (based on April data).

Welfare Tax Credits: Suffolk Coastal

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit recipients there are in Suffolk Coastal constituency; and how many tax credit recipients have undergone managed migration to Universal Credit.

Nigel Huddleston: The number of Child or Working Tax Credits recipients in the Suffolk Coastal constituency can be found in table 4 in Geographical data tables of the latest Provisional Awards statistics published here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6495a963831311000c2962b1/Child_and_Working_Tax_Credits_April_2023_Geographical_Tables.odsThe statistics are as at April 2023, the most recent point in time for which numbers are available. Information on the number of tax credits recipients who have moved to Universal Credit through the managed migration process is not available at the parliamentary constituency level.

Treasury: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Nigel Huddleston: HM Treasury does not collate the figures requested. HM Treasury publishes impacts in summary form for tax measures in tax information and impact notes (TIINs) alongside the Finance Bill.

Aviation: VAT

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on pilot flight training courses.

Nigel Huddleston: Pilot training may be exempt from VAT when provided by an eligible body which meets certain conditions (for example, when provided by a government institution or certain regulated organisations), but otherwise will be subject to the standard rate. The Government currently has no plans to remove VAT on pilot flight training courses more broadly. VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to the vast majority of goods and services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.

Foreign Companies: Japan

Mark Logan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Japanese companies to open bank accounts in the UK.

Bim Afolami: The Department for Business and Trade has a global network, including a significant presence in Japan, to support investors around the world to establish their businesses in the UK. DBT uses its engagement with thousands of businesses and investors to build a well-rounded view of the top issues impacting business, and will continue to engage businesses on these commercial issues. The Government knows that Japanese companies continue to take confidence in doing business with the UK. Japan is already the UK’s 5th largest investor and this past year alone during the Prime Minister’s visit, with Japanese businesses committed to invest almost £18 billion in businesses and projects across the UK. More broadly, the provision of banking services is a commercial decision for firms based on a variety of factors, including the local law, regulation of individual countries, an assessment of profitability, or other commercial drivers. Nevertheless, the Government takes the issue of access to bank accounts very seriously, and that is why last year the Chancellor asked the FCA to collect evidence to help us understand where account closures or refusals are happening and why.

Video Games: Tax Allowances

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many games studios have benefited from Video Games Tax Relief since its introduction.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC publishes information on the number of companies that claim Video Games Tax Relief on an annual basis. The latest figures include data up to the 2021-2022 tax year. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2023.

Financial Services: Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens to replace paper identification required to (a) open a bank account and (b) access (i) loans, (ii) mortgages, (iii) credit cards, (iv) investment opportunities and (v) other financial instruments.

Bim Afolami: The Government recognises the widespread benefits of digital identity use. HM Treasury’s Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) 2017 require banks and other regulated financial firms to verify a customer’s identity to open, access or maintain a bank account or other financial products. The MLRs do not impose a preference in how a regulated firm should verify its customers’ identities, either using traditional paper or digital identity sources.

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme on investment in early-stage British-owned businesses.

Nigel Huddleston: At Autumn Statement 2023, the Government published the report of an independent evaluation of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), conducted in 2022. The evaluation explored the impact of the SEIS in meeting its policy objectives and found evidence that it was appropriately designed to mobilise additional investment in start-ups and early-stage companies from private investors, providing those businesses with valuable funding for business development and innovation that would otherwise be difficult to find from other sources. The full report can be found here: Evaluation of Venture Capital Schemes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Video Games: Tax Allowances

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of Video Games Tax Relief on inward investment into the UK video games industry.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC commissioned an independent evaluation of Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) which included an assessment of the impact on inward investment. The findings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/video-game-tax-relief-evaluation.

Department for Transport

Railways: North of England

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Energy Coast Line Upgrades between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow have entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; what the project’s Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.

Huw Merriman: Officials are currently working with local partners and Network Rail on plans for the proposed upgrade following the Network North announcement. The project is currently at the Strategic Development & Project Selection stage in PACE.

Public Transport: Newcastle upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to increase access to affordable public transport options for people aged between 16 and 24 in Newcastle.

Guy Opperman: The Government introduced a £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London on 1 January 2023 to help all passengers save on their regular travel costs. The Government is investing nearly £600 million to deliver the scheme, including additional funding redirected from HS2 to keep the cap in place until the end of 2024. There are currently over 140 bus operators and more than 5,000 routes in the scheme, including routes in Newcastle.The Government is also providing over £2 billion to help local transport authorities (LTAs) deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP). This includes the announcement by the Prime Minister in October 2023 that a further £1 billion would be redirected from HS2 to deliver better bus services in the North and the Midlands.The North East has so far been allocated £175 million to deliver their BSIP, which can be used to support any bus service improvements that the local authority – working with local bus operators – know their community needs, including introducing local fares initiatives in addition to the Government’s £2 bus fare cap. Thanks to this funding, Transport North East has launched a £1 fare for the under 22s and a £3 daily ticket for under 22s offering unlimited travel on bus, Metro and Ferry throughout the region.More widely, the North East is now eligible for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement following their Devolution Deal and, upon election of a Mayor, we will work with them on their delivery plans to support local transport within the region. Up to £563m is available from their CRSTS 1 funding settlement (from 2022 – 2027). CRSTS 2 allocations were announced as part of Network North in October, with the North East indicatively allocated a further £1,849 billion from 2027/28 -2031/32.Additionally, there are a range of discounts available to 16 to 24-year-olds to help with the cost of rail travel - in 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver, meaning that a 50% discount is available to children throughout their period of compulsory education and training. For those aged 16-25, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel.In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis, and decisions about offering reduced or discounted fares for commercial bus services are predominantly for operators to take. Many bus operators currently offer discounted travel cards for younger people. Our most recent set of statistics shows that at least one commercial operator in 71 out of 84 travel concession authority areas in England, outside London, offered some form of discounted travel for young people.

Regional Airports: Infrastructure

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what capital funding his Department is making available to support the development of infrastructure at regional airports.

Anthony Browne: Most airport operators are either in the commercial private sector or are public/private partnerships which operate commercially. As such, it is for airport owners to develop and fund proposals on the future development of airports. Airports may consider engaging with local authorities who are best placed to consider local transport priorities using the funding courses at their disposal.

Cycling and Walking: West Yorkshire

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has provided to support (a) cycling and (b) walking activities in (i) Dewsbury constituency and (ii) West Yorkshire in the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: In the last 12 months, Active Travel England has awarded West Yorkshire Combined Authority £2,530,967 of revenue funding through the Capability Fund, and £17,430,668 of capital funding through the fourth tranche of the Active Travel Fund. This funding has been provided to support active travel as a whole in the region and is not split between walking and cycling. West Yorkshire Combined Authority decides on how this funding is allocated locally. Annual payments are also made to West Yorkshire Combined Authority for Levelling Up Fund and City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement Schemes. This includes a £330,000 scheme for a Dewsbury-Batley-Chidswell bus, cycling and walking corridor.

Motorcycles: Carbon Emissions

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking the use case of large capacity L-Category vehicles into consideration when setting proposed phase-out dates for new non-zero emission (a) mopeds and (b) motorcycles.

Anthony Browne: The consultation on when to end the sale of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles was open to responses from 14 July to 21 September 2022 and supported by a thorough programme of stakeholder engagement, which is ongoing. The Department is now analysing the responses, including points raised on the use cases of these vehicles, and will bring forward the Government’s response in due course.

Taxis: Licensing

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Leader of the House on the timetable for legislating on national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.

Guy Opperman: There was insufficient parliamentary time to bring forward legislation on national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing during this Parliament, but the Government remains committed to doing so in due course.

Bus Services: West Midlands

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held discussions with the West Midlands Mayor on increasing the level of devolved powers for local bus services.

Guy Opperman: In March 2023, HMG announced the agreement of the trailblazer devolution deal with the West Midlands Combined Authority, marking further progress in delivering our 2030 levelling up mission on local leadership and to enhancing transport connectivity across the country. The deal was the result of close working and frequent meetings between the West Midlands and the Department for Transport. This commits to the transfer of more control and influence to the WMCA including for local bus services – for example in relation to the Bus Service Operators Grant.

Railways: Finance

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of additional rail capacity which will be available at the end of Network Rail’s Control Period 7 funding settlement between 2024 and 2029.

Huw Merriman: The Secretary of State was clear in the 2022 High-Level Output Specification that he expects to see an efficient approach to system operation in Control Period 7 (CP7), underpinning allocation of capacity that best supports reliability, informed timetable specification and effective use of the network for rail freight—bolstered by the continued adoption of digital signalling.Network Rail plans to support passenger train growth on major routes in the next Control Period, expected to be around 1% to 5% by the end of CP7. Across the whole network, operators will continue to be obliged to release any unused capacity to ensure that it can be appropriately allocated.Network Rail plans support a further 25 rail freight trains per day in CP7, in pursuit of growing rail freight by 7.5% during Control Period 7. The independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, will hold Network Rail to account against this growth target.We continue to support ambitious rail infrastructure upgrades (“enhancements”) across the country which will increase capacity across the rail network. Rail enhancements are funded and managed separately from the Control Period settlements.

Ebbsfleet International Station: Tunnels

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the rail industry’s plans to review Ebbsfleet tunnel flooding that occurred on 29 December 2023.

Huw Merriman: An investigation is being undertaken by an independent party to determine the cause of the flooding of the Thames Tunnels. The investigation is ongoing and the Department is in regular contact with the relevant parties including HS1 Ltd.

Railway Stations: Tavistock

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 71 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, whether the new station at Tavistock has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; what the project’s Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.

Huw Merriman: The Tavistock to Plymouth project has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for this project has been completed by Devon County Council, with funding from the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. Work is underway with industry partners to develop a proposal for the next stage of works, leading up to Single Option Selection and the development of an Outline Business Case. The next PACE stage for the project will be Engineering Stage 1. The Department is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timescales for the Tavistock to Plymouth project.

Railway Stations: Tavistock

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost of and (b) completion date for the proposed development of the new station located in Tavistock connecting to Plymouth.

Huw Merriman: A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for this project has been completed by Devon County Council, with funding from the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. Work is underway with industry partners to develop a proposal for the next stage of works, leading up to Single Option Selection and the development of an Outline Business Case. HS2 savings have been set aside to fund development and delivery of the scheme. More detail on cost and completion date will be included as part of the Outline Business Case.

North Wales Coast Line: Electrification

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the the proposed electrification of the North Wales mainline, whether that project has entered the Rail network enhancements pipeline; what the project's Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is as of 16 January 2024; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.

Huw Merriman: I refer the hon. Member to the Answer given to the Member for Newport East which was answered on 18 January 2024.

Railways

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 25 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, whether the proposed reopening of Beeching lines has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; and what the current PACE status of that project is if this has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline and the current PACE status of the project.

Huw Merriman: The Restoring Your Railway programme comprises a number of schemes at different stages of development and delivery. Costs and delivery timeframes will vary by scheme.

Railway Stations: Ferryhill

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what estimate he has made of the (a) final cost and (b) completion date of the proposed Ferryhill Station upgrades.

Huw Merriman: The Ferryhill project was proposed by Durham County Council who led on the initial development work. The Department has further developed the project's business case, looking at route capacity, station locations and has updated the forecast costs. The Department is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timescales for the Ferryhill station project. It is not yet possible to provide details on the likely cost or completion date.

Railways: Midlands

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 25 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, whether the proposed Midlands Rail hub has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; what the project’s Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.

Huw Merriman: The Government received a business case for MRH’s "West and Central" scope (for improved services between Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, and Hereford/Worcester) from Network Rail in November 2022. We are assessing the case for moving to the next stage through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, which would involve preparing detailed designs and working towards a future decision to deliver the scheme. We hope to be able to confirm next steps very soon.In progressing MRH’s "Eastern" scope (for improved services between Birmingham and the East Midlands), in addition to considering the business case being prepared by Network Rail, we will also need to now take stock of the Network North plans and how the scheme can best optimise transport links throughout the region.

Railway Stations: Sheffield

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 52 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, whether the proposed upgrade to Waverly station has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; what the project’s Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.

Huw Merriman: The Waverley station project has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for this project has been completed by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), with funding from the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. The next stage for the Waverley project is being progressed by SYMCA, who will lead the project as far as Single Option Selection and the development of an Outline Business Case. The Department will then fund the project to delivery, subject to the updated business case.

M6: Repairs and Maintenance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the proposed improvements of the M6 Junction 15 South of Manchester to Birmingham have entered the Road Improvement Strategy (a) programme and (b) development stage; whether formal approvals have been granted; and whether they will progress into the next strategy phase.

Guy Opperman: Improvements to Junction 15 of the M6 were originally announced in the second Road Investment Strategy, published in 2019 as part of the pipeline of projects being considered for possible delivery in a future RIS. Network North recommitted this scheme for delivery and National Highways is evaluating which options for the scheme will proceed to the next stage of development.

M6: Repairs and Maintenance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost and (b) completion date of the proposed road improvements to the M6 Junction 15 South of Manchester to Birmingham.

Guy Opperman: National Highways is in the process of evaluating the range of potential interventions at this junction and it is too early to give a firm cost estimate.

A38: Somerset

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the A38 Somerset road improvement scheme has entered the Road Improvement Strategy (a) programme and (b) development stage; whether formal approvals have been granted; and whether it will progress into the next strategy phase.

Guy Opperman: The A38 North Somerset scheme is being promoted by North Somerset Council and Somerset County Council respectively for potential funding under the Department’s Major Road Network/ Large Local Majors (MRN/ LLM) programme. It is not part of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy. Ministers have granted formal approval for the scheme to gain programme entry as part the Department’s MRN/ LLM initiative and the local authorities concerned are currently developing a Full Business Case for this scheme. Whether the scheme progresses to the next phase will be dependent upon whether the Full Business Case is approved by ministers, subsequent to an assessment and advice from officials.

Regional Airports: Infrastructure

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support he is providing to regional airports for the costs of installing infrastructure to allow a transition to green fuel sources.

Anthony Browne: As a predominately private sector investment in infrastructure is a matter for individual airports. The Government is however supporting R&D activity to enable the sector to prepare for the adoption of new zero emission aviation fuels such as hydrogen. As part of the Tees-Valley Transport Hydrogen Hub DfT is supporting the establishment of re-fuelling stations at Teesside International Airport which can be used by hydrogen airside vehicles. In October 2023 DfT launched a Transport Research and Innovation Grant competition. Through this we are offering funding for up to 10 projects which can facilitate the development of infrastructure for zero emission airport operations and the handling of zero emission aircraft. The competition has closed and applications are currently being assessed. In addition, the Jet Zero Council has a dedicated sub-group on Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure. This group convenes representatives of government, industry and academia with an interest in developing zero emission flight in the UK.

Roads: Kendal

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost of and (b) completion date for the Kendal Access Road scheme.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Kendal Access Road scheme has entered the Road Improvement Strategy (a) programme and (b) development stage; whether formal approvals have been granted; and whether it will progress into the next strategy phase.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost and (b) completion date of the proposed Kendal Access Road improvement scheme.

Guy Opperman: The Kendal Northern Access Route scheme is being promoted by Westmoreland and Furness Council (the Council) for consideration for potential funding as part of the Department’s Major Road Network/ Large Local Majors (MRN/ LLM) programme. It would not form part of the Government's Road Investment Strategy. The Council are currently developing an Outline Business Case (OBC) for the scheme for submission to the Department for a decision on whether to approve it and provide conditional support for the scheme as part of the MRN/ LLM programme. The latest scheme cost estimate and completion date provided to the Department are £185.3million and July 2027 respectively. However, my officials understand that the Council is considering the scope of the proposals that will be put forward in the OBC, which is expected to be submitted to the Department this year. Therefore, the cost estimate and completion date may change.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was for (a) national and (b) local highway maintenance in each financial year since 2010-11; and how much funding has been allocated for (i) national and (ii) local highway maintenance for the (A) 2023-24 and (B) 2024-25 financial years.

Guy Opperman: National Highways and its predecessor bodies have spent approximately £8.417 billion, funded by the Department for Transport, on maintenance and renewals on the strategic road network in England during the period 2010-11 to 2022-23. It is also providing funding of £2.234 billion over 2023-24 and 2024-25, although these funding pots include an element of Capex operational activity in addition to maintenance and renewals. The Department has allocated a total of approximately £17.1 billion of capital funding for highway maintenance to local highway authorities in England over the period 2010-11 to 2024-25. For the (A) 2023-24 and (B) 2024-25 financial years the allocations are £1.475 billion and £1.275 billion respectively. These include the amounts provided to Mayoral Combined Authorities within their City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS). Funding allocations for all eligible local authorities between 2020-21 – 2024-25 can be found on gov.uk.  Year(a) National Maintenance – actual spend(b) Local Highway Maintenance – allocated funding2005-06Not available£660m2006-07£30m£672m2007-08£108m£683m2008-09£284m£703m2009-10£793m£755m2010-11£374.3m£1,077m2011-12£373.4m£806m2012-13£421.5m£779m2013-14£517.1m£1,063m2014-15£705.5m£950m2015-16£663.3m£1,154m2016-17£626.2m£1,026m2017-18£776.1m£1,222m2018-19£674.2m£1,346m2019-20£733.8m£1,051m2020-21£759.5m£1,626m2021-22£881.1m£1,125m2022-23£911.2m£1,125m Budget AllocationYear(i) National Maintenance(ii) Local Highway Maintenance2023-24£1,118m*£1,475m2024-25£1,116m*£1,275m * To note that the National Highways budgets for 2023-24 & 2024-25 include an element of Capex Operational activity and other business costs in addition to Maintenance & Renewals.

Roads: Blyth

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the proposed Blyth relief road has entered the Road Improvement Strategy (a) programme and (b) development stage; whether formal approvals have been granted; and whether it will progress into the next strategy phase.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost and (b) completion date of the proposed Blyth relief road upgrades.

Guy Opperman: The Blyth Relief Road scheme is being promoted by Northumberland County Council (the Council) for consideration for potential funding as part of the Department’s Major Road Network/Large Local Majors (MRN/ LLM) programme. The Council have been working extensively with the Department’s officials and have submitted an Outline Business Case (OBC) for the scheme to the Department for a decision on whether to approve it and provide conditional support for the scheme as part of the MRN/ LLM programme. A decision will be issued as soon as possible. The latest scheme cost estimate and completion date provided to the Department are £46.8million and February 2026 respectively.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 26 of the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 13 October 2023, how the funding to fix potholes will be allocated for (a) national highways and (b) local highways; what his Department's timescales are for allocating this funding; and by what date he expects the funding to be spent.

Guy Opperman: The £8.3 billion of additional Network North roads resurfacing funding announced on 4 October 2023 is for road resurfacing and wider maintenance activity on the local highway network. It covers an eleven-year time period from 2023/24 to 2033/34. £150 million of the funding has already been paid out to local authorities in the 2023/24 financial year to allow them to make an immediate start on improving their local roads, and a further £150 million has been allocated for the 2024/25 financial year. Local authorities have also been given an indicative total funding allocation covering the entire eleven-year period. All of these details are on gov.uk at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/highways-maintenance-funding-allocations. The profiling of funding for the years 2025/26 onwards has not yet been confirmed and will be a matter for the next Spending Review. The funding will be backloaded, meaning that relatively more of it will be available in later years to ensure that it aligns with the profile of savings from the rescoping of the HS2 programme.

Bypasses: Doncaster

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the A1-A19 Hickleton Bypass Road scheme has entered the Road Improvement Strategy (a) programme and (b) development stage; whether formal approvals have been granted; and whether it will progress into the next strategy phase.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost and (b) completion date of the proposed A1-A19 Hickleton Bypass Road scheme.

Guy Opperman: There is no A1-A19 Hickleton Bypass scheme, or schemes, within the Department’s current Major Road Network/ Large Local Majors (MRN/ LLM) programme. Network North announced that we will be launching a new round of the ‘Major Road Network’ programme that supports local authorities to enhance and renew the most important local authority roads that support regional growth and connectivity. We will be issuing guidance on bidding and identifying new schemes in the Spring and look forward to working with local authorities on schemes such as this one. It would be for the local authority in the first instance as a potential promoter for this scheme, or schemes, to consider putting them forward for funding as part of that fund once the scheme opens. There is no relevant scheme that is part of the government’s Road Investment Strategy, which focuses on investment in the Strategic Road Network managed by National Highways, rather than local authority roads.The Department has no cost estimates or information on completion dates for an A1-A19 Hickleton bypass scheme or schemes.

Heathrow Airport

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the decision by BA to increase the minimum connection time at Heathrow Airport to 75 minutes.

Anthony Browne: The Government continues to work with ground handlers, airlines and airports to ensure they are doing all they can to minimise disruption for passengers. The aviation industry operates in the private sector therefore it is the responsibility of the sector to determine their operational plans.

Aviation: Exhaust Emissions

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of private jets on trends in the levels of (a) air pollution and (b) CO2 emissions.

Anthony Browne: The Department for Transport has recently commissioned independent research to establish a baseline of carbon emissions by the General Aviation sector, which included private jets. Officials are considering next steps in how we can utilise the data from the report to support policy development and undertake measures to further support the decarbonisation of the sector.In relation to local air quality, the impact of a standard aircraft’s emissions plume, at or above 3,000 ft, on nitrogen oxides (NOx) ground-level concentrations is very small even in a very conservative analysis, and 1,000 ft is the typical limiting altitude for ground-level NOx concerns. We are taking active measures to reduce emissions from aviation whilst retaining our ability to fly. The aviation sector, including business aviation, is important for the whole of the UK economy, making an important contribution in terms of connectivity, direct economic activity, trade, investment and jobs.The Jet Zero Strategy shows that the aviation sector can achieve net zero aviation by 2050 without government intervention limiting aviation growth. We will achieve our targets by focusing on new fuels and technology, which have economic and social benefits, without limiting demand.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of public charge points for electric vehicles there will be by 2030.

Anthony Browne: The Government outlined in its 2022 Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure strategy that around 300,000 publicly available charging devices are expected to be needed to meet 2030 charging demand. The number of public charging devices is rapidly increasing. 16,622 chargepoints were installed in 2023, bringing the total number of public chargepoints to 53,677 on 1 January 2024 – an increase of 45% since 1 January 2023. This puts us on a growth rate consistent with over 300,000 public charging devices in the UK by 2030.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of EV charging points there will be at the end of (a) 2024 and (b) 2030.

Anthony Browne: The Government outlined in its 2022 Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy that around 300,000 publicly available charging devices are expected to be needed to meet 2030 charging demand. The number of public charging devices is rapidly increasing. A total of 53,677 public chargepoints have been installed, as of 1 Jan 2024. Of these, 16,622 were installed in in 2023 alone. The Government is focused on addressing future charging requirements rather than short-term demand. The current annual growth rate in charging devices is consistent with installing over 300,000 public charging devices by 2030.

Official Cars: Electric Vehicles

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of vehicles in the car fleet for (a) Ministers and (b) senior officials are pure electric cars.

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a comparative estimate of (a) initial capital costs and (b) annual running costs of (i) pure electric vehicles, (ii) petrol cars and (ii) diesel cars in the Government car fleet.

Anthony Browne: The Government Car Service (GCS) provide a Departmental Pool Car Service to Departments as a shared resource. Ministers have access to this service which is managed by the receiving Department. The GCS currently operates 38 battery electric cars (33% of the GCS fleet). Initial capital costs to procure battery electric cars for the GCS fleet incurred an uplift of at least 18% compared to a similar fit for purpose car.A comparison of annual running costs is not held at present by GCS. This is due to the fact that the electric battery fleet is charged at multiple locations across numerous Government departments, and that data is not recorded. However, in many cases, electric vehicles continue to benefit from significant savings on the cost of fuel. Charging a medium sized electric car at rates equivalent to the January 2024 electricity price cap equates to around half the cost of filling up an equivalent petrol vehicle. In addition to this, electric vehicles generally cost less to maintain due to fewer moving parts than their petrol or diesel equivalents.

Railways: Yorkshire and the Humber

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the planned electrification on the Hull-Leeds, Sheffield-Hull and Sheffield-Leeds routes has entered Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; what the project’s Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage is; when approval was granted to enter that stage; and whether entry to the next stage will be granted.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) total cost and (b) estimated date of completion for the planned electrification of the (a) Hull-Leeds, (b) Sheffield-Hull and (c) Sheffield-Leeds train routes.

Huw Merriman: Network North provides £3bn (2019 prices) to upgrade and electrify the railway between Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester. We are working with our Arms Length Bodies, and other delivery partners, to agree the delivery schedule and will provide more information on this when plans are more mature. All schemes will be subject to the development and approval of business cases and will undergo all formal governance, in line with relevant fiscal and legal duties.

West Coast Main Line: Rolling Stock

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will grant an immediate emergency exemption of at least six months to allow West Coast Rail company to make a new application for a new exemption certificate.

Huw Merriman: The decisions on issuing exemptions from safety requirements, including the Railway Safety Regulations 1999, are a matter for the Office of Rail and Road, in its capacity as the independent regulator for rail safety. The Department has no powers to issue exemptions from the safety requirements itself.

Active Travel and Low Emissions Zones: Greater London

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much grant money has been given to (a) the Mayor of London and (b) London boroughs for (i) ULEZ and (ii) active travel schemes.

Huw Merriman: Transport in London is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL). While the Department for Transport works closely with TfL on a range of issues, decisions on spending are entirely matters for TfL and/or the London boroughs where funding is devolved at the borough level.No grant money has been given to the Mayor of London for his recent expansion of ULEZ, indeed the department specifically prohibited the use of government-provided funds for it.In 2020/21, government allocated TfL and London Boroughs £25m from the Active Travel Fund and has since required TfL to ring-fence set amounts of funding for active travel schemes, including funding for London Boroughs under the local implementation plan process, in the extraordinary funding settlements with TfL throughout the Covid era.

Railways: Yorkshire and the Humber

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the restoration project of the Don Valley Line between Sheffield and Stocksbridge has entered the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline; at what Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage the project is; when approval was granted; and what the likelihood is of the project entering the next stage.

Huw Merriman: The Don Valley line project has entered the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline. A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for this project has been completed by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), with funding from the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. The Department is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timescales for the project. The next PACE stage for the project will be Engineering Stage 1. Work with SYMCA has started to plan and develop the modal and route options for the next stage of work, which will inform the remit for production of an Outline Business Case.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Plants: Imports

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Plant biosecurity strategy for Great Britain (2023 to 2028), published on 9 January 2023, what progress his Department has made on exploring new biosecurity measures for high-risk tree imports.

Mark Spencer: Plant health import controls already include a ban on the highest risk trees (over 30 species are prohibited for import from outside Europe including many native species), and the phytosanitary certification of trees which are permitted for import. In 2022 Defra concluded a consultation seeking views on additional biosecurity measures for high-risk trees. An analysis of responses indicates broad support from stakeholders for further action in this area. We are currently exploring opportunities to strengthen controls through further prohibitions and enforced holding in isolation for prescribed periods of time post import, while continuing to take a risk-based approach. This work includes examining the effectiveness, practicality and operational costs to industry and government of a variety of measures, to identify those which provide suitable biosecurity benefits. More rigorous consultation with industry will be undertaken prior to the implementation of any measures.

Agriculture: Flood Control

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 5961 on Agriculture: Floods, how many farmers have been awarded grants to install property flood resilience measures in each of the last five years.

Robbie Moore: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not have data on how many farmers were awarded grants under the Property Flood Resilience repair grant scheme. Farmers are entitled to apply for support under this scheme as either householders or businesses, depending on the property impacted. We can however provide a breakdown of grants provided by households and businesses: There are two schemes which have run in recent years, not including the currently active Storm Babet (Oct 23) and Storm Henk (Jan 24) schemes. The November 2019 scheme covered 18 eligible councils, and provided grants to 978 properties, of which 860 were residential and 124 were businesses.The February 2020 scheme had 34 eligible councils, and provided grants to 1,627 properties, of which 1,331 were residential and 296 were businesses.

Waste Disposal: Hampshire

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what enforcement action the Environment Agency will take to prevent environmental contamination from Trenchard Scrapyard in Four Marks, Hampshire.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency does not take enforcement action to prevent contamination. The Environment Agency takes enforcement action in response to significant contamination where there is evidence it has occurred and who is responsible for it. The Environment Agency does not have evidence that the current activities at the site are causing significant contamination.

Fly-tipping

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help increase prosecutions for fly tipping.

Robbie Moore: In partnership with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, which includes local authorities and the police, we have produced a guide on how local authorities, and others, can present robust cases to court to support sentences that properly reflect the severity of fly-tipping. This guide is available at National Fly-tipping Prevention Group | Keep Britain Tidy Through the Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, we are also encouraging councils to increase enforcement activity against fly-tippers. Our fly-tipping intervention grants have also seen nearly £1.2m awarded across more than 30 councils to help purchase equipment to tackle fly-tipping. Many of the projects are using the funds to install CCTV which can be used help catch perpetrators. Another round of grants for tackling fly-tipping are to be awarded in the spring.

Waste Disposal: Hampshire

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Trenchard Scrapyard in Four Marks, Hampshire is compliant with the required Environment Agency permits and conditions; and what steps are being taken to ensure compliance.

Robbie Moore: The site does not currently benefit from an Environmental Permit. The Environment Agency is providing advice and guidance about what activities need to cease or be brought into compliance by applying for an environmental permit and/or registering appropriate exemptions.

Waste Disposal: Hampshire

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings have taken place between Hampshire County Council, East Hampshire District Council and the Environment Agency on Trenchard Scrapyard in Four Marks, Hampshire.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency met with Hampshire County Council on the site on Monday 27 November 2023.

Electronic Cigarettes

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he last met with representatives from the vaping industry.

Robbie Moore: No meetings with Defra Secretaries of State or Ministers have taken place with representatives of the vaping industry. Defra officials attended a conference organised by the Independent British Vaping Trade Association on 26 October 2023.

Food: Waste

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the level of food waste reporting by large businesses.

Robbie Moore: We are committed to tackling food waste, which is why we are taking action to increase the take up of the voluntary approach to reporting through the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap delivered by WRAP. Last year more than £2 million went to our food waste prevention programme, with action across the supply chain including working with trade associations and businesses to measure and report their food waste. We ask all businesses to sign up to the Roadmap and to ‘Target, Measure and Act’ on their food waste.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 8 September, (b) 2 October, (c) 2 November and (d) 7 December 2023 from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay, case reference JB42739.

Robbie Moore: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on the 3rd January. On behalf of the Department, I sincerely apologise for the delay.

Wales Office

Windrush Compensation Scheme: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the time taken to process claims to the Windrush Compensation Scheme from people in Wales.

David T C Davies: I have regular discussions with Home Office ministers on a range of issues and I recognise the contribution of the Windrush Generation to Wales. I was pleased to meet the Windrush Cymru Elders at the Mission Seafarers in Newport on 31 October 2023. The Windrush Compensation Scheme is determined to ensure everyone who was affected receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible. The scheme is making significant progress towards achieving this aim. As of the end of November 2023, the scheme had paid over £75 million in compensation and over 78% of claims received had been given a final decision. The time to allocate a claim for a substantive casework consideration has been reduced significantly, from 18 months to under 4 months. The 4 month period includes all essential eligibility checks, together with a Preliminary Assessment to make an initial payment of £10,000 wherever possible. However, each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity so that the maximum payment can be made to them.

Wales Office: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

David T C Davies: Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (the Duty) all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. While ‘equality impact assessments’ may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format. We do not centrally monitor assessments in this area but are confident that we are meeting the Duty in our decision-making processes.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Fuels: Exports

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much refined fuel by volume has been exported from the UK in each year since 2010.

Graham Stuart: Data on exports of refined products are published monthly and are available here.

Fuels: Imports

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much refined fuel by volume has been imported to the UK in each year since 2010.

Graham Stuart: Data on imports of refined products are published monthly and are available here.

North Sea Oil

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data her Department holds on the (a) location of sites and (b) estimated UK capacity in each of the next five years for refining North Sea oil.

Graham Stuart: The Department published annual data on refinery nameplate capacities, along with a map of these locations, in the Crude oil and petroleum products methodology document. The Department does not collect data for estimating UK future refining capacity.

North Sea Oil: Pipelines

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the (a) volume and (b) proportion of oil that is brought ashore by the Forties Pipeline System and transhipped overseas for refining in each year since 2010.

Graham Stuart: The UK publishes data on the proportion of the oil produced from the UK’s Continental Shelf (UKCS) that is refined within the UK. Data on the proportion that originates from the Forties Pipeline System is not separately published but the Department estimates that exports from the Forties Pipeline System over the last five years (2019 to October 2023) average 89 per cent, which is broadly in line with the published data for the UKCS as a whole. Five year average UK and FPS disposals of crude oil and natural gas liquids, 2019 to October 2023Destination (average 2019-Oct 2023)FPS 5-year averageUK total 5-year averageDelivered to UK1.46.5percentage11%17%Exports11.232.8percentage89%83%  million tonnes

Solar Power: Urban Areas

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to provide further funding for the (a) upscaling of urban photovoltaics technologies and (b) connection of urban photovoltaics to the grid.

Andrew Bowie: The Government currently has no plans to provide funding for urban photovoltaics, but we are exploring options in the Solar Taskforce for facilitating low-cost finance from retail lenders to help households and businesses with the costs of installation. This builds on a commitment made in the British Energy Security Strategy. Government does not provide funding for connection of photovoltaics to the grid. However, the independent energy regulator, Ofgem, has reduced connection costs where distribution network reinforcement is required for connection applications from 1 April 2023.

Wind Power: Bradwell-on-Sea

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2023 to Question 8973 on Wind Power: Bradwell-on-Sea, if she will direct National Grid to publish the study that informed its assessment of the suitability of Bradwell as a site for landfall and converter stations of offshore wind and interconnectors.

Graham Stuart: National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has published its assessment of the site’s suitability as part of the latest pre-consultation material for the Norwich to Tilbury project, which outlines its considerations around Bradwell as an unsuitable landfall or converter site. NGET are best placed to answer further questions.

Energy Charter Treaty: Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications of the provisions of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill for membership of the Energy Charter Treaty.

Graham Stuart: On 1 September 2023, the UK announced it would be reviewing its membership of the ECT if the modernised Treaty was not adopted by November 2023. The Government is considering the views of stakeholders in business, civil society, and Parliament as part of this process. Investments in the UK energy sector are potentially in scope of the investment protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. This protection is dependent on the details of the investment and the relationship between the investor and a Contracting Party to the Energy Charter Treaty.

Shipping and Oil: Carbon Emissions

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the level of carbon emissions attributable to (a) the maritime sector and (b) the import and export of oil in each year since 2010.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has not produced estimates of greenhouse gas emissions specifically from the maritime sector or from the import and export of oil. However, it publishes UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions statistics where particular sources of maritime and oil industry emissions can be identified.

Medical Equipment: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to provide additional financial support to households in Northern Ireland that have high energy use for medical purposes in winter 2024-25.

Amanda Solloway: Energy policy is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The UK Government is providing a package of support that will total over £104 billion, or £3,700 per household on average, over 2022-2025, to assist households and individuals with rising costs of living. As part of this package, millions of vulnerable households will receive up to £900 in further Cost of Living Payments. These payments apply to Northern Ireland.

Wattisham Airfield: National Grid

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the National Grid has had discussions with RAF Wattisham on the Norwich to Tilbury pylon proposals.

Graham Stuart: Consulting on the Norwich to Tilbury project is a matter for National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) as the Transmission Owner and developer. The Ministry of Defence is a Statutory Consultee under the Planning Act and, as such, NGET is required to engage with RAF Wattisham on potential impacts of the project on Wattisham Air Base. NGET is best placed to comment on any such engagement.

Energy: Conservation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an estimate of how many existing homes which qualify for (a) home insulation and (b) energy efficiency grants have not requested them.

Amanda Solloway: We do not hold this information in the Department.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Broadband: Housing Estates

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of a Government scheme to fund internet connectivity improvements in housing estates with copper wires.

Julia Lopez: Project Gigabit is the Government’s flagship £5 billion programme to enable hard-to-reach communities, left out of commercial delivery plans, to access lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband.We expect most premises which require a Government subsidy through Project Gigabit to be in rural areas. However, to achieve our mission of nationwide coverage, which we expect to be at least 99% of premises having access to a gigabit capable connection, we are aware that there are pockets of more urban areas that are left out of commercial plans. Work is ongoing to identify an appropriate course of action for these premises. The solution here may involve working with suppliers to help remove barriers to commercial delivery rather than using public subsidy.We have already amended building regulations so that new homes are future-proofed with gigabit connectivity; and where this is not available within a per-home cost cap, with gigabit-ready infrastructure to facilitate a gigabit-capable connection when this becomes available.Alongside government intervention, the telecoms industry is leading on upgrading the UK’s landline network from the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), delivered over copper wires, to more reliable and future proofed services delivered over digital landlines, also referred to as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). These services will predominantly rely on fibreoptic cables for their infrastructure. Government is monitoring this switch-off closely, to ensure that vulnerable consumers are protected.

Development Aid: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what budget has been allocated to Official Development Assistance (ODA) R&D for the 2024-25 financial year; and whether the Government plans to announce funding programmes in addition to the International Science Partnerships Fund to make ODA R&D funding available to researchers.

Andrew Griffith: Continuing DSIT’s commitment to support R&D for international development, the Department has invested £280 million in ODA R&D for activity already live under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Newton Fund over this Spending Review period; and, £218 million of ODA R&D for new activity under the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF). Annual spend data will be available through the established “Statistics on International Development” (SID) process.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Mr Alister Jack: Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (the Duty) all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. While ‘equality impact assessments’ may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format. We do not centrally monitor assessments in this area but are confident that we are meeting the Duty in our decision-making processes.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Arts: Training

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to help establish partnerships with (a) private sector and (b) academic institutions to increase skills training in the creative industries.

Julia Lopez: The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out the Government’s ambition to maximise the potential of the creative industries. It details our plans to grow these industries by an extra £50bn and create a million extra jobs by 2030, and build a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people through a Creative Careers Promise.The Creative Industries Sector Vision sets out a range of interventions across education, skills and job quality to achieve this, working in partnership with the creative sector and those involved in education and training. The forthcoming joint Department for Education and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Cultural Education Plan will support the provision of high quality cultural education for all school-age children, including careers advice and skills development. This will provide young people with a window into the sector, and access to important foundational skills.Strengthening talent pipelines for young people is also a priority. This will be delivered through our Creative Careers Programme,, two new creative T-Levels rolling out in September 2024, and multiple national and regional opportunities to participate in apprenticeships and digital and creative Skills Bootcamps. Many of these initiatives are delivered in partnership with the private sector and academic institutions such as Netflix, the BBC and University of Birmingham.These interventions complement the investment the sector is already making on skills. For example, the BFI’s £9 million National Lottery funded ‘Skills Clusters’ which will support skills development and training across the UK; ScreenSkills’ £19 million Future Film Skills Programme which has helped over 119,000 people progress in screen careers since 2018; and the work of the world-leading National Film and Television School, which received funding from DCMS.

Video Games: Finance

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many games studios have been supported by the UK Games Fund since its inception.

Julia Lopez: The UK Games Fund supports the development of new intellectual property (IP) and graduate talent.The UK Games Fund has provided 308 grants supporting the development of new games IP from UK studios. This includes grants for 27 studios that participated in Tranzfuser, and four studios that participated in the residential programme DunDev. It does not include grants from the new £5 million Content Fund which was launched in September 2023.